Preliminary study of styrene grafting on polyethylene films

Abstract

Grafting of styrene on polyethylene was carried out as a preliminary study. The experiments covered a range from 5 to 20 kGy and intended to evaluate the absorbed dose that led to the best degree of grafting (DOG) under industrial dose rate. PE films 0,065 mm thick were exposed several times to radiation at room temperature and nitrogen atmosphere. The films were immersed in the solution content styrene/solvent then irradiated (5 to 20 kGy) dose. As an exploratory experiment, styrene grafting was gravimetrically evaluated and characterized by infrared spectroscopy (FTIR).The degree of grafting ( DOG) was calculated. Concentrations of methanol/ Styrene at the rate of 80:20 were favorable at low dose of 10 kGy. In presence of acid, best result was achieved at 15 kGy in the range of 5 to 20 kGy.