Grafting Plastic To Wool By Radiation
(From Our Own Reporter) AUCKLAND, Feb. 16. The experimental irradiation of wool to graft synthetic plastic materials to the wool fibres is being carried out jointly by the Wool Research Institute and the Institute of Nuclear Sciences of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, the Director of the Nuclear Institute (Mr T. A. Rafter) told the Science Congress today. When wool and an organic monomer—a material from
which plastic polymers may be built—were given a big radiation dose, nearly 70 per cent of the monomer was polymerised and grafted to the wool fibres, said Mr Rafter.
Changes in fibre properties after the addition of the polymer were being examined at the Wool Institute. Big doses of radiation could also be of use in sterilising various materials, particularly agricultural produce and medical supplies, Mr Rafter said.
“Radiation pasteurisation of meat looks a feasible possibility for New Zealand, and we hope to install a 20,000 Currie cobalt source that could be of great value in preliminary studies of this nature,” he said.
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Bibliographic details
Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30677, 17 February 1965, Page 8
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177Grafting Plastic To Wool By Radiation Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30677, 17 February 1965, Page 8
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