Graft copolymerization of methyl acrylate onto potato starch initiated by ceric ammonium nitrate

This is the authors' abstract. We don't add key points for this paper.

A study was made of the ceric ammonium nitrate (CAN) initiated graft copolymerization of methyl acrylate (MA) onto potato starch. The variables affecting the graft were investigated. The optimums have been obtained; they are the concentrations of MA, CAN, and nitric acid (HNO 3 ) (1.08, 5.0 × 10 −3 , and 0.081 mol/L, respectively). The reaction temperature is ca. 50°C and the reaction time is 2 h. The molecular weight of grafted poly(methylacrylate) has been determined. On the basis of experimental results, the mechanism of grafting has been explored, a new kinetic equation of the graft copolymerization is established: R p = Kk d [STOH] [Ce 4+ ] + Kk p k d / k t [STOH][M], where K , k d , k p , and k t are constants. The equation fits the results of experiments.