Gamma-ray irradiation on polystyrene in the presence of crosslinking agents

The radiation induced crosslinking of polystyrene is difficult because of its aromatic units, and the polymer degrades when irradiated in air. Therefore, the authors studied the effects of gamma-ray irradiation on polystyrene in the presence of polyfunctional monomers such as trimethyl propanetrimethacrylate (TMPTM), dimethyleneglycol bisallycarbonate (DEGBAC), etc. These monomers readily polymerize by irradiation with small dose. When polystyrene was mixed with 20% by weight of TMPTM, the toluene insoluble polymer obtained after the irradiation with a dose of 10 Mrad had a polystyrene TMPTM ratio of 1 and with a dose of 20 Mrad, the radio became 6. Since TMPTM alone polymerizes with a dose much smaller than these doses, it is likely that the chain breaking and recombination between polystyrene and poly TMPTM takes place. In the case of DEGBAC, the dose required for crosslinking of polystyrene was higher than that with TMPTM. The relationships between doses and radiochemical yields for gelation and degradation for various polyfunctional monomers are presented