Synthesis of perm-selective membranes by grafting acrylic acid into air-irradiated Teflon-FEP films

Grafting acrylic acid into air-irradiated Teflon-FEP films was investigated. Pre-irradiation doses ranged from 0.5 to 10 kGy. Grafting occurred at 45 or 600C. Homopolymerization inhibitors, ferrous ions or methylene blue, were added to the system. It was found that after completion of the reaction, within 40-100 min, membranes were obtained with very low electric resistivities. The influence of added inhibitors, pre-irradiation dose and grafting temperature was studied. From the results it is concluded that the initiating centers in air-irradiated Teflon-FEP are, on the one hand, peroxides of structure POOP', in which P is a polymeric radical and P' a small fragment, and on the other hand trapped PO2sup(·) radicals. The latter only react after losing their oxygen. In the presence of polymerization inhibitors, initiation involves a redox process which reduces the overall activation energy. (author)