POLYMER-PLASTICS TECHNOLOGY AND MATERIALS, vol.59, no.7, pp.722-732, 2020 (SCI-Expanded)
In this paper, experiments have been performed to further the development of conductivity of the polyethylene. This study mainly investigated the surface resistivity and surface wettability of the polyethylene (PE) after ionic liquid modifications. In order to activate the surface, PE was pre-treated with chromic acid and then modified with 1-ethyl-2,3-dimethylimidazolium ethyl sulfate (IL1) and methyl-tri-n-butylammonium methyl sulfate (IL2) ionic liquids. The effect of the type and concentration of the ionic liquid IL1 and IL2 concentrations is examined by Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), surface resistivity and surface wettability. Results showed that thermal stability of the PE deteriorated after ionic liquid modifications. Both untreated and modified fabrics exhibited resembling crystallinity parameters. Nearly 57% enhancement in surface wettability of the PE was achieved. The pre-treatment process decreased the surface resistivity and increased surface wettability of the PE. The main success in this research is that IL1 and IL2 modifications reduced the resistivity data from 10(11) ohm/sq to 10(7) ohm/sq and 10(8) ohm/sq, respectively.