Polymer Science Faculty Research

Radiation-induced synthesis of low molecular weight of PTFE and their crosslinking in acetone medium

Toshikazu Miyoshi, The University of Akron

Abstract

Polytetrafluoroethylene was obtained by radiation-induced polymerization of tetrafluoroethylene in acetone at 195 K. An average diameter of the products was very small compared with the commercial one; it was about 0.2 μm. The yield was reached to 100% with a dose of 4 kGy. The crystallinity of the products is decreasing with increasing dose. The crystallinity becomes low, for higher irradiation doses. It was found that PTFE obtained by irradiation of TFE in acetone at 195 K has Y-type crosslinking structure. This was demonstrated by means of 19F MAS NMR.