Review Improvement of Polypropylene Properties by Irradiation/Grafting and Other Modifications

Gawish, Samiha Mahmoud; Mosleh, Sayeda El-Sayed; Ramadan, Ameera

doi:10.21608/ejchem.2018.4284.1382

Review Improvement of Polypropylene Properties by Irradiation/Grafting and Other Modifications

Document Type : Review Articles

Authors

¹ Textile Research Division, National Research Cetre

² Textile Division ,,National Research Centre, Dokki, Cairo

³ Textile Division , National Research Centre ,Dokki, Cairo Egypt

10.21608/ejchem.2018.4284.1382

Abstract

In Egypt, at Port-Said there is a great company producing polypropylene chips from propylene gas ( and a catalyst) , a product of petroleum. These are
melt spinning into yarns to produce woven or non - woven fabrics.
Polypropylene (PP) is a cheap fabric, bearing chemical resistance and excellent mechanical properties . PP is hydrophobic in nature , inactive synthetic fabric due to the absence of reactive functional groups in the molecular structure, thus preventing its dyeing For this reason , PP fibers are modified by irradiation methods to form free radical centers onto the surface and graft selected vinyl monomers . Different irradiation techniques are adopted involving plasma discharge, electron beams , ozone , UV, γ- rays and other modifications.
PP is grafted with selected monomers including methacrylate derivatives such as ( 2N -Dimethyl amino ethyl methacrylate ,2N morpholino ethyl methacrylate , 2- ethyl methacrylate phosphoric acid , methyl methacrylate, 2- hydroxy ethyl methacrylate ) acrylic acid , styrene , chloro methyl styrene , vinyl acetate etc...
The different variable factors affecting PP irradiation and grafting reactions are considered such as irradiation dose , storage time of irradiated fabric , monomer concentration , reaction time and temperature . Physical properties of grafted PP are studied for those containing tertiary amino or quaternized groups which improved the increase of moisture regain , melting point and enhancement affinity to dyeing by different classes of dyestuffs. Other important properties improvement include ion exchange capacity electrical conductivity , antistatic, insect repellent activity an antibacterial property . PP containing Ag, Zn, ZnO, TiO2 , Cu2O nano particles are antibacterial fabrics which are used as wound healing dressings.

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