Study on the anti‐biofouling effects of the grafted polyamide 6 fibers by several vinyl chemicals

Abstract

The biofouling is any non-desirable accumulation and growth of living matters on the material surfaces. Four grafting agents, Acrylic acid (AA), 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA), 2-dimethyl amino ethyl methacrylate (DMAEMA), and Methyl acrylate (MA) were grafted on a polyamide fiber (PA6) with two techniques "simultaneous UV irradiation and grafting" (SUVIG) and "pre-UV irradiation (PUVI). It revealed that all used grafting chemicals grafted on the PA6 fiber surface efficiently. The SEM micrographs showed that the surface of the ungrafted PA6 fiber was relatively smooth, but for the grafted fibers, they were coarse and the grafted chemicals distributed on the PA6 surface heterogeneously. The grafting of the used grafting agents on the PA6 fiber surface increased the glass transition temperature of the PA6 fiber. The grafting of the PA6 fiber altered its crystallinity depending on the type of the grafting agent. With except of the MA, the hydrophilicity of the grafted PA6 fibers was higher than the ungrafted PA6 fiber. The grafting efficiency percentages and degrees were remarkably higher for the PUVI technique when compared with the SUVIG technique. The results of the biological tests showed that the MA was a suitable grafting agent for increasing anti-biofouling property of the PA6 fiber.

The effects of several operative parameters on the grafting of selected grafting agents on a polyamide six (PA6) fiber surface

“…23 It has several advantages, that is, carry out the reaction at room temperature and grafting in the gaseous and or liquid phase of the monomer. Among of already studied two UV irradiation techniques, 24,25 the PUVI technique showed more efficient results, and it selected as an appropriate UV irradiation technique in this study.…”

“…The grafting of the HEMA and dual HEMA-AA system on the PA6 fiber performed as described earlier. 24,25 The reaction temperatures, reaction times, UV pre-irradiation times, and HEMA-AA mole ratio selected between 60°C and 90°C, 0.5 and 4 h, 5 and 30 min, and 1-2 and 3.6-1, respectively. The total HEMA and HEMA-AA (for dual system) concentrations kept at 0.75 mol/L.…”

“…Authors already studied the grafting of HEMA on the PA6 fiber surface using a UV irradiation technique named pre-UV irradiation (PUVI). 24 They also studied the grafting of a HEMA-AA dual system on the same fiber with the above-mentioned irradiation technique. 25 The chemical linkages between the above-mentioned grafting agents and the surface of the PA6 fiber confirmed by using several characteristic techniques, including ATR-FTIR, DSC, XRD, SEM, and contact angle.…”

The functionalization of selected chemical agents on a polypropylene fiber and the study on the physical and anti‐bio‐fouling properties of the functionalized fibers

“…X‐ray diffraction (XRD) is a non‐destructive method for assessing the crystalline material characteristics by creating a beam of incident X‐rays on a crystal. [ 21 ] An XRD instrument (GNR, Italy) employed for the angles and intensities determination of the diffracted beams to the fibers by 2θ range of 5–80° and 4 KV and 30 mA.…”

“…Acrylic acid (AA), 2‐hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA), 2‐dimethyl amino ethyl methacrylate (DMAEMA), and methyl acrylate (MA) are conventional functionalizing agents for fibers (Scheme 1). [ 21 ] The mentioned agents reduce the bio‐fouling process by two distinct mechanisms. The first mechanism is the absorption of a massive amount of water by the agent and producing a distance between the organisms and the fiber surface, and the second is the creation of a non‐sticking surface by lowering the surface energy of the fiber surface.…”