JOURNAL OF MACROMOLECULAR SCIENCE PART A-PURE AND APPLIED CHEMISTRY, cilt.45, sa.4, ss.276-280, 2008 (SCI-Expanded)
Poly(ethylene terephthalate)-g-methacrylamide (PET-g-MAAm) copolymer was prepared by graft copolymerization in organic solvent/water mixtures by using azobisizobutyronitrile (AIBN) as an initiator. The highest graft yield was obtained in 20/80 (v/v) acetonitrile/water mixture as 30.0%. The effect of polymerization parameters such as the ratio of solvent/water mixture, concentrations of initiator and monomer, temperature and time on the graft yield was studied. The moisture regain of the PET fiber increased with grafting from 0.42% to 3.01%. Thermogravimetric data showed that the thermal stability of PET fibers decreased with grafting and 85% of total weight of 29.7% grafted fiber was lost at 500 degrees C. On the other hand, fiber density decreased with increasing graft yield. At SEM micrographs, the layers oriented in the direction of fiber length were observed on the surface of PET fiber as a result of grafting.