Grafting Copolymerization of Styrene and Acrylic Acid onto Pre-irradiated Polypropylene Fabric

Grafting copolymerization of styrene and acrylic acid onto polypropylene fabric had been studied by using a pre-irradiation technique. The polypropylene fabric Samples were irradiated by Y-ray and electron beam under the conditions of air and nitrogen gas, respectively. The effect of absorbed dose, monomer concentration in solvent, reaction temperature and reaction time on the degree of grafting were determined. The effects of metallic salts and sulphuric acid on the grafting yield of acrylic acid were also examined. The samples irradiated by electron beam give a much higher degree of grafting than those by Y -ray when styrene was grafted to polypropylene fabric. However, the grafting yield of acrylic acid on polypropylene fabric in the presence of metallic salts and sultric acid showed the opposite results from the case of styrene. This effect is reasonably interpreted by assuming that the grafting is dominated by trapped radicals and peroxides in pre-irradiated polypropylene.