Comparing the grafting of styrene onto linear low density polyethylene and low density polyethylene

Abstract

This work aims to evaluate the best grafting performance between linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE), and low density polyethylene (LDPE) films once synthesized in order to be used as ion exchange membranes. The simultaneous method was used in the experiment under absorbed dosis covering the range of 5, 10, 15, 20 and 25 kGy, using methanol as solvent and styrene as monomer. The samples were weighted, immersed in ampoules containing the monomer/solvent (30:70) solution, sealed in nitrogen atmosphere and irradiated. Irradiation process took place at room temperature in a 60Co source. After the irradiation, the samples were washed in Soxhlet system overnight and weighted. The degree of grafting (DOG) was the criteria used to evaluate the behavior of each type of PE. The samples were characterized also by infrared spectroscopy analyze (FTIR).Results indicated that LDPE behaves better grafting than LLDPE in the ranges of 5, 10, 15 and 20 kGy the best performance was 20 kGy with 100% higher values.