Polymer radiation processing

Solution polyacrylamides can also be prepared at high polymer soHds by radiation processes (80,81). Polyacrylamides with molecular weights up to 20 million can be prepared by inradiation of acrylamide and comonomers in a polyethylene bag with cobalt-60 gamma radiation at dose rates of 120-200 J/kg-h. The total dose of radiation is controlled to avoid cross-linking. 

A third source of initiator for emulsion polymerisation is hydroxyl radicals created by y-radiation of water. A review of radiation-induced emulsion polymerisation detailed efforts to use y-radiation to produce styrene, acrylonitrile, methyl methacrylate, and other similar polymers (60). The economics of y-radiation processes are claimed to compare favorably with conventional techniques although worldwide iadustrial appHcation of y-radiation processes has yet to occur. Use of y-radiation has been made for laboratory study because radical generation can be turned on and off quickly and at various rates (61). 

V. T. Staimett and co-workers. Prog. Polym. Process. 3, Radiat. Process. Polym., 289—317 (1992). 

Charlesby, A. (1988) Radiation processing of polymers, in Supplementary Volume I of Encyclopedia of Materials Science and Engineering, ed. Cahn, R.W. (Pergamon Press, Oxford) p. 454. 

Radiation processing of polymers was introduced after World War II with the development of the nuclear reactor. In the current years, various radiation sources, e.g.. X-rays (soft and hard), gamma (7) and ultraviolet (UV) rays and electron beam (EB) are being widely used. 

Polymer radiation chemistry is a key element of the electronics industry, in that polymer materials that undergo radiation induced changes in solubility are used to define the individual elements of integrated circuits. As the demands placed on these materials increases due to increased density, complexity and miniaturization of devices, new materials and chemistry will be required. This necessitates continued efforts to understand fundamental polymer radiation chemical processes, and continued development of new radiation sensitive materials that are applicable to VLSI Technology. 

Radiation Processing of Polymers (Singh, A., and Sliverman, J., Eds.), Carl Hanser Verlag, Munich (1992). 

Schematic of an indirect accelerator (microwave Hnac). (CleUand, M.R., Radiation Processing of Polymers (Singh, A., and Silverman, Eds.) Carl Hanser Publishers, p. 30 (1992). With permission of Carl Hanser Publishers.)...

Radiation processing of monomers and polymers by electron beam, such as polymerization and copolymerization of monomers, cross-linking, grafting, and degradation of polymers, is induced by these different chemically reactive species. ... 

Compared with chemical cross-linking of PE, radiation curing produces a different product in many respects. The chemical cross-linking is done at temperatures near 125°C (257°F), where the polymer is in the molten state. Consequently, the cross-link density in the chemically cross-linked polyethylene is almost uniformly distributed, while there are relatively few cross-links in the crystalline fraction of the radiation cross-linked PE. The crystalline fraction of the radiation-processed polyethylene is greater than that in the chemically cured product. ... 

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