Synthesis of chitosan-grafted-poly(methyl methacrylate) with Fenton's Reagent (Fe2+-H2O2) as a redox initiator

Abstract

Graft copolymerization of poly(methyl methacrylate)(PMMA) onto chitosan fiber has been successfully carried out using Fenton's Reagent which is consisted of hydrogen peroxide(H2O2) as initiator and ferrous ammonium sulphate(FAS) as co-catalyst under inert atmosphere in an aqueous medium. The PMMA homopolymer formed during the reaction was removed from the grafted copolymer by Soxhlet extraction using acetone as the solvent. The grafting percentage and efficiency obtained were 449.16% and 85.94%, respectively. The maximum grafting percentage and efficiency were achieved when 0.3 g chitosan copolymerized with 3 mL monomer at 70°C for 120 minutes with [FAS] = 6 × 10-5 M, [H2O2] = 6 × 10-3 M and 8 mL water. The grafted copolymers were characterized by using FTIR, DSC, TGA and SEM analysis. The presence of absorbance band at 1724 cm-1 provided strong evidence of grafting.