Radiation induced grafting of acrylic acid onto extruded polystyrene surface

Abstract Polystyrene materials with good solubility in liquid scintillation cocktails are used to wipe off different types of surfaces in order to determine the tritium removable contamination with the help of a liquid scintillation counter. This paper analyses hydrophilic surface modifications by radiation induced grafting of acrylic groups onto extruded polystyrene plates. Two grafting methods were used: (a) exposure of extruded polystyrene plates, immersed in aqueous acrylic acid solution, to a gamma radiation of a Co-60 source, and (b) exposure of extruded polystyrene plates to a Co-60 source, followed by the immersion of extruded polystyrene plates in aqueous acrylic acid solution. The grafting of acrylic was proved by IR spectrometry and by radiometric methods using acrylic acid labelled with tritium.