Radiation-induced GMA/DMAA graft copolymerization onto porous PE hollow-fiber membrane

Abstract

Radiation-induced graft copolymerization is a powerful technique to prepare a grafted chain with the desired properties pending onto the trunk material. In this work, a polyethylene hollow-fiber membrane was modified by this technique. The monomers glycidyl methacrylate (GMA) and N,N-dimethylacrylamide (DMAA) were cografted onto macroporous polyethylene hollow fiber with a grafting degree in the order of 200%. DMAA/GMA cografted membranes were compared to GMA grafted ones for the introduction of an amino acid as a specific ligand. Grafted membranes with a copolymer composition between 0 and 2 DMAA/GMA were prepared by soaking them in solutions of different mixtures of monomers. Copolymers were characterized by FTIR and their composition was estimated by the analysis of the ratio of carbonyl signals. Copolymers with a higher proportion of DMAA showed improved hydrophilic properties and higher conversion rates of epoxy groups on phenyalanine ligands than those of the GMA grafted ones. However, copolymers with a DMAA/GMA ratio higher than 1 showed a detrimental effect on the pure water flux. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc, J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 87.