The previous research showed the anti-biofouling improvement of the polyamide six (PA6) fiber when grafted by 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA) individually, and in combination with acrylic acid (AA) known as dual monomers system. The effects of several operative parameters, including vessel reaction temperature and time, ultra violet (UV) pre-irradiation time, and also HEMA-AA mole ratios (for dual system) on the surface grafting of a PA6 fiber by HEMA and also, dual HEMA-AA system were studied. The studied grafting parameters were grafting degree (D), grafting efficiency (E), formed homo and or co-polymer (Y), reaction extent (K), and reaction ratio (R). A pre-UV irradiation technique (PUVA) used for irradiation of the fibers. The results showed efficient polymerization and grafting reactions for the selected operative parameters. The increasing reaction temperature reduced the grafting of the HEMA and AA on the fiber surface. Instead, it accelerated the homo and or co-polymerization of the HEMA and AA monomers. The reaction time had the lowest effect on the homo and co-polymer formation of the used monomers in the studied dual HEMA-AA system. The increasing pre-UV irradiation time was beneficial for the grafting of the studied monomers on the PA6 fiber. The reason referred to increasing the number and concentration of the active sites on the fiber surface.
Keywords: 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate; Polyamide six fiber; UV irradiation; acrylic acid; grafting.