Abstract
The ability of potassium persulfate (KPS) to initiate graft copolymerization of styrene onto cellulose was investigated. A kinetic study on the decomposition of persulfuric ion confirmed that the oxidation of cellulose in KPS aq. solution proceeds under a radical mechanism. Truely grafted side chains were separated from graft products by using thin layer chromatography combined with acid hydrolysis of cellulose backbone. These results implied that KPS has the ability to initiate graft copolymerization. It was found that the grafting efficiency depended on KPS concentration as follows: At lower KPS concentrations, namely 1.9_??_2.8m mol/l, graft copolymerization almost exclusively proceeded, while at higher concentrations, e. g., 18.5m mol/l, homo polymerization predominated over graft copolymerization.
The grafting site in cellulose was not elucidated, but it was found that the site was not restricted to any specific group, e. g., the reducing endgroup of cellulose as in the case of graft copolymerization with Ce4+ ion.
