Functionalisation of polypropylene with fluorinated acrylic monomers in the molten state

The free radical grafting of flurorinated acrylic monomers (FA) onto polypropylene (PP) was investigated in the molten state. Such a modified PP would display low surface energies which are useful for numerous applications. Styrene (St) was added as a comonomer to improve FA grafting and reduce the chain degradation of PP. The underlying grafting mechanism in the presence of St was that St reacted first with PP macro-radicals and the resulting styryl radicals copolymerized with the grafting monomers. St's contributions were most important when the concentration of the free radical generator was lowest. It was more difficult to graft FA onto a PP containing a stabilizing package than if it was free of any additives. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.