Radiation effects on polyacetylenes having substituents

Abstract

Effects of γ-ray irradiation on high molecular weight polyacetylenes with various substituents were studied in air and in vacuum. The molecular weights of polymers from aliphatic disubstituted acetylenes (2-octyne and 2-decyne) remarkably reduced with irradiation in air. Their G values for chain scission in air were as high as 3—12, whereas no degradation occurred in vacuum. The degraded polymers contain carbonyl and hydroxyl groups, and are soluble in polar solvents such as methyl ethyl ketone and acetone. In contrast, polymers of aromatic disubstituted acetylenes (1-phenyl-1-propyne and 1-chloro-2-phenylacetylene) hardly degraded in air even with irradiation up to 40 Mrad. The degradation behavior of poly(t-butylacetylene) was intermediate between those of the above aliphatic and aromatic polymers. Thus the radiolysis of polyacetylenes was found to be greatly dependent on the kind of substituents. © 1985 The Society of Polymer Science, Japan.