Graft polymerization of arcylamide onto LLDPE film by electron beam pre‐irradiation in air or argon. I. Influence of dose, grafting temperature, and monomer concentration

Linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) film was irradiated by electron beam in air or argon prior to grafting in aqueous solutions of acrylamide containing 0.05% of Mohr's salt. The grafting kinetics was studied with pre‐irradiation doses in the range of 2.5–25 Mrad and in the temperature range of 40–70°C. Grafting rates and final degrees of grafting were higher for LLDPE pre‐irradiated in air than for LLDPE pre‐irradiated in argon. The overall activation energies for the grafting reaction were dose‐dependent. Above 5 Mrad, the overall activation energies were higher for LLDPE pre‐irradiated in argon which is interpreted as being due to crosslinking of the LLDPE.