Study on the anti‐biofouling effects of the grafted polyamide 6 fibers by several vinyl chemicals

ABSTRACT The biofouling is any non‐desirable accumulation and growth of living matters on the material surfaces. Four grafting agents, Acrylic acid (AA), 2‐hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA), 2‐dimethyl amino ethyl methacrylate (DMAEMA), and Methyl acrylate (MA) were grafted on a polyamide fiber (PA6) with two techniques “simultaneous UV irradiation and grafting” (SUVIG) and “pre‐UV irradiation (PUVI). It revealed that all used grafting chemicals grafted on the PA6 fiber surface efficiently. The SEM micrographs showed that the surface of the ungrafted PA6 fiber was relatively smooth, but for the grafted fibers, they were coarse and the grafted chemicals distributed on the PA6 surface heterogeneously. The grafting of the used grafting agents on the PA6 fiber surface increased the glass transition temperature of the PA6 fiber. The grafting of the PA6 fiber altered its crystallinity depending on the type of the grafting agent. With except of the MA, the hydrophilicity of the grafted PA6 fibers was higher than the ungrafted PA6 fiber. The grafting efficiency percentages and degrees were remarkably higher for the PUVI technique when compared with the SUVIG technique. The results of the biological tests showed that the MA was a suitable grafting agent for increasing anti‐biofouling property of the PA6 fiber. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2018, 135, 46760.