Structural characterization of alpha methyl styrene‐butyl acrylate‐grafted polyetheretherketone films

Abstract

Radiation-induced graft copolymerization of alpha methyl styrene (AMS)-butyl acrylate (BA) mixture onto poly(etheretherketone) (PEEK) was carried out to develop films of varying copolymer compositions. The characterization of films was carried out with fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), thermogravimetry analysis (TGA), X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The presence of AMS and BA units within the film matrix was confirmed by FTIR. The intensity of the characteristic peaks for AMS and BA increased with the increasing grafted component in the films. The crystallinity of the films as observed from DSC and XRD decreased with the increasing graft levels. On the other hand, the melting temperature of the base polymer was almost unaffected by irradiation and the grafting process. The glass transition temperature (T g ) of the grafted film increased as compared to the virgin PEEK. Ungrafted film showed a stable thermogram up to $500 C. However, the grafting introduced a new decomposition range in the copolymer, due to the presence of the AMS/BA. AFM images showed the formation of domains on the grafted PEEK film surface. The SEM also showed domain formation of the grafted component within the PEEK matrix. However, the fracture analysis did not show any prominent phase separation. Mechanical characterization of films in terms of tensile strength, elongation, and modulus was also carried out.

Effect of Radiation-Induced Cross-Linking on Thermal Aging Properties of Ethylene-Tetrafluoroethylene for Aircraft Cable Materials

“…Although fluoropolymers have been extensively employed as insulation materials in spaceships and aircrafts, fluoropolymer, which is used for aerospace applications, is frequently decomposed on account of its rather low radiation resistance performance derived from fluoride precipitation after cosmic ray radiation [3,4]. Hence, there has been a substantial drop-off in mechanical properties, chemical resistance, electrical properties, thermal stability, surface properties, and other characteristics of perfluoropolymers where the body is exposed to rays [5,6] and the extent of degradation depends upon the radiation dose, dose rate, and energy of the incident radiation [7][8][9][10][11][12][13].…”

Preparation of proton exchange membranes by radiation-induced grafting of alpha methyl styrene–butyl acrylate mixture onto polyetheretherketone (PEEK) films

“…9. We have observed in our earlier studies that the grafting process does not influence the inherent crystallinity of the virgin PEEK and grafting is confined to amorphous region only [23]. This indicates that the sulfonation process takes place in such a way that it leads to the disruption of some crystalline regions as well.…”

“…We have reported the radiation grafting of AMS and butyl acrylate (BA) onto PEEK to develop copolymer films with varying graft levels [22]. The influence of the grafted component on the physical properties of the copolymer film was investigated [23]. In the present investigation, the sulfonation of graft copolymer films is carried out to develop proton exchange membranes with a view to understand their physio-chemical behavior as a function of the degree of grafting.…”

Structural and Thermo-mechanical Evaluation of Two Engineering Thermoplastic Polymers in Contact with Ethanol Fuel from Sugarcane

“…X c integration and calculations were performed according to well-established procedures in the literature 13,[29][30][31] . X c was also calculated from DSC.…”