Hamdani Saidi and Habibu Uthman (2013), Effect of mineral acids addition on the radiation-induced grafting of 1–vinylimidazole onto preirradiated poly (ethylene–alt–tetrafluoroethylene) films, Proceedings of the 2nd Conference on Emerging Energy & Process Technology, CONCEPT 2013, Lotus Desaru, Johor Bahru, Malaysia, December 9–10

Abstract

Radiation-induced grafting of 1-vinylimidazole (1-VIm) onto electron beam preirradiated poly (ethylene-alt-tetrafluoroethylene) (ETFE) films was investigated. Effects of mineral acids (H2SO4 and HNO3) addition on the degree of grafting [DG(%)] were carefully studied. In comparison with grafting of 1-VIm onto ETFE with deionized water as a solvent in the absence of mineral acids; it was observed that addition of H2SO4 enhanced DG(%) values of up to ca. 88%. To provide evidences of grafting, Fourier-transformed infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis was performed on the grafted ETFE film in comparison with the original ETFE films.