Grafting some polymers on a glass surface treated with titanium tetrachloride

Abstract

It is shown that when polymerization of styrene, dimethacrylate(bistriethyleneglycol)‐phthalate and epoxy resin takes place in the presence of the glass fiber treated with TiCl₄ or SnCl₄, the grafting of polymers onto the glass surface proceeds. The amount of grafted polymer depends on the reaction temperature and conditions of treatment of the fiber. By means of polarography it was established that TiCl₄ is firmly bonded with glass surface and, as a consequence, noticeable reinforcement of the fiber takes place. It is shown that due to inhomogeneity of the glass surface, grafting is realized in some separate places and grafted polymer is there in the form of little gammas of a size that changes from 2 to 14 μ. Some investigation of the peculiarities of grafting were also fulfilled and data on tensile strength of glass fiber before and after grafting some polymers in different conditions of treatment onto it were obtained. Grafting of styrene was also realized onto the surface of PVA film treated with TiCl₄, as PVA can be considered a model of a glass fiber due to the existence of the surface OH groups of it. All these data enable us to conclude that OH groups of the glass forming some complexes with catalyst molecules are centers of grafting.