Factors affecting polymerization of 2-methyl-5-vinylpyridine in poly(ethylene terephthalate) fibers using benzoyl peroxide as initiator

✍ Scribed by S. E. Shalaby; A. M. Bayzeed; A. Hebeish

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1978
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 802 KB
• Volume: 22
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0021-8995
• DOI: 10.1002/app.1978.070220516

✦ Synopsis

Polymerization of 2-methyl-5-vinylpyridine (MVP) in the presence of poly(ethy1ene terephthalate) fibers (PET) using benzoyl peroxide (BP) as initiator caused a substantial increase in the weight of fibers. The mechanism of this polymerization is believed to be grafting by vinyl addition to P E T radical formed under the influence of BP. Increasing the BP concentration up to 4.26 X moleh. causes a significant enhancement in grafting, while further increase brings about a marked fall in the graft yield. Increasing the MVP concentration up to 10% also improves significantly the graft yield, but the latter, particularly in the later stages of the reaction, shows lower values a t higher MVP concentrations. Raising the reaction temperature from 65" to 95°C causes a significant enhancement in the rate of grafting, though the maximum graft yield obtained a t 95°C is much lower than a t 85°C. Incorporation of Cu2+ ion in the polymerization system enhances the graft yield outstandingly. The same holds true for Fe3+ and Li ions, but the enhancement is much less than that for Cu2+ ion. Addition of acetic or oxalic acid to the reaction decreases the magnitude of grafting. The same situation is encountered when a water/solvent mixture is used as reaction medium. Solvents employed were methanol, ethanol, propanol, and butanol. Also studied was the polymerization reaction with respect to homopolymer, total conversion, and graft efficiency.