Emulsion grafting of glycidyl methacrylate onto polyethylene fiber

Seko, Noriaki; Nguyen, T. Y. N.*; Tamada, Masao

Graft polymerization of glycidyl methacrylate (GMA) onto polyethylene fiber was carried out in emulsion solution obtained by dissolving GMA in water with sodium n-dodecyl sulfate (SDS) as a surfactant. GMA micelles diameter was 415 nm at 5% GMA with 4% SDS and increased up to 1840 nm at 10% GMA with 12% SDS. Degree of grafting (Dg) which was estimated by the weight gain after grafting increased with the increment of GMA concentration in the range of 2-8% and slightly reduced at 10% GMA. The increment in SDS concentration from 4% to 16% at 5% GMA reduced Dg from 120% to 18%. In emulsion graft polymerization, Dg was affected by covered area by GMA/SDS micelles on the fiber.