ELASTOMERS BASED ON CELLULOSE FIBERS BY GRAFTING ACRYLATES

Abstract

In the previous papers, it has been reported that viscose rayon fibers grafted with ethyl acrylate (EA) after crosslinking has revealed the typical rubber elastic behaviors. Then, by the ceric ion method, methyl (MA), ethyl (EA), and n-butyl (BA) acrylates were systematically grafted onto the formalized viscose rayon fibers. Mechanical properties of these grafted fibers were also measured to evaluate the influence of the kind of monomers and the crosslinking pretreatment by formalization.
It was found that the EA-grafted fibers after formalization showed the greatest breaking elongation and the most conspicuous elastic recovery among the acrylates investigated. The EA-grafted fiber after formalization (combined CH₂O: 0.651%) revealed the typical rubber elastic behaviors (stress-strain curves) at about 1000% graft-on. From the above results, the elastomers started from crosslinked and consecutively grafted celluloses are considered to have soft and hard segments. each of which corresponds respectively to the flexible grafted parts with a considerably lower glass transition than the room temperature and to the rigid cellulose parts reinforced by the formalization.