Radiation induced vapour phase grafting of styrene onto fluorinated substrates

Full text: Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) is well known for being inert towards heat, solvents and harsh chemicals. However, in contrast, PTFE is extremely sensitive to radiation suffering from a dramatic decrease in mechanical strength even when exposed to low doses. In this study we have used a copolymer of PTFE, poly(tetrafluoroethylene-co-perfluoropropylvinyl ether) (PFA). The effect of the ether comonomer is to render the polymer melt processable, lower the crystallinity and increase the radical yield when compared with PTFE. When grafting styrene to PFA using a radiation initiated process, the resulting polymer has the desirable chemical and thermal resistance of the PFA substrate combined with the functionality of the styrene, however, due to the incidental degradative effect of radiation on the PFA substrate it is important to find conditions where the best graft is achieved without exposing the substrate to extraneous levels of radiation. We have successfully grafted styrene to PFA by simultaneously exposing PFA to styrene vapour and gamma radiation. This process was found to be independent of dose rate at low dose rates suggesting a diffusion controlled mechanism. The penetration of the graft into the PFA substrate was measured by mapping a cross-section using micro-probe Raman spectroscopy