TITLE:
Influence of pH to Increase Grafting Degree into Fluoropolymers
AUTHORS:
Giovanni González-Pérez, Ademar Benevolo Lugao
KEYWORDS:
ETFE and FEP, Grafting Copolymer, Enhanced at Low pH
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Polymer Chemistry,
Vol.7 No.3,
August
30,
2017
ABSTRACT: Poly(ethylene-alt-tetra-fluoroethylene (ETFE) and poly(tetrafluoroethylene-cohexafluoropropylene)
(FEP) were pre-irradiated under air using a Co60 gamma
source to graft styrene at low pH. Grafting copolymers were tuned by
study of different parameters (monomer, reaction time, temperature, and pH
with addition of sulfuric acid (H2SO4)). The maximum degree of grafting was
80% and 40% for ETFE and FEP respectively at dose 2 kGy. Influence of low
pH in grafting degree by adding sulfuric acid was studied. Grafting degree was
examined by infrared (FTIR-ATR), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC)
and swelling behavior analysis after sulfonation process.