Radiation grafting of acrylic acid onto fluorine‐containing polymers. I. Kinetic study of preirradiation grafting onto poly(tetrafluoroethylene)

Abstract Preirradiation grafting of acrylic acid onto poly(tetrafluoroethylene) film was studied. The trapped radicals formed upon irradiation are able to induce graft polymerization under appropriate conditions. The influence of the grafting conditions were analyzed kinetically. The grafting reaction begins close to the film surface and proceeds into the center with progressive monomer diffusion through the grafted layer. The dependences of the grafting rate on preirradiation dose and monomer concentration were found to be 0.2 and 1.1 order, respectively. The overall activation energies for this grafting were calculated to be 15.2 and 4.8 kcal/mol below and above 35°C, respectively. The relationship between the grafting rate and film thickness gave a negative first‐order dependence.