A Novel Sorbent Prepared by Two-Step Grafting of Acrylic Acid and Methyl Methacrylate Monomer onto a Polypropylene Matrix

Abstract

In order to improve the hydrophilicity of polypropylene (PP) nonwovens, grafting of acrylic acid (AA) and methyl methacrylate (MMA) onto PP matrix through ultraviolet (UV) radiation was achieved in an isopropanol/water acidic aqueous solution. AA and MMA were grafted onto a pre irradiated PP matrix by a two-step grafting reaction for preparation of a novel composite sorbent PP-g-(AA+MMA). The grafting conditions were optimized and the effects of grafting parameters were investigated. The present study suggested that the grafting degree played a dominant role in the sorption implication of PP-g-(AA+MMA). Fourier transform infrared spectra (FT-IR) and X-ray photoelectron spectra (XPS) were used to characterize the chemical changes of the PP matrix surface. The morphological behaviors have been estimated using specific surface area, porosity and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Static contact angle (CA) measurements showed that the hydrophilicity of PP nonwoven was enhanced after graft polymerization. The thermal stability of PP-g-(AA+MMA) was evaluated by different thermo analysis (DTG) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The improvement of reusability are shown as the increased of tensile modulus as a function of physical properties.

Keywords:

• Graft polymerization
• Methyl methacrylate
• Polypropylene nonwoven
• Sorption capacity
• Ultraviolet radiation

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 51078264), Special Innovation Fund Project of Tianjin Science and Technology (10FDZDSW01500), Tianjin Basic Applied and Forefront Technology research projects (09JCZDJC23200) and Xinhua Share Co., Ltd., Fujian.