Grafting Vinyl Monomers onto Silk Fibers. VI. Graft Copolymerization of Methyl Methacrylate onto Silk by Using Quinquevalent Vanadium-Thiourea Redox System

The graft copolymerization of methyl methacrylate onto silk fibers was investigated in aqueous solution using the V5+−thiourea redox system. The rate of grafting was determined by varying monomer, thiourea, acidity of the medium, temperature, initiator concentration, and reaction medium. The percentage of graft yield increases significantly by increasing the initiator concentration up to 0.01 M and thereafter decreases with a further increase of initiator concentration. The graft yield increases with an increase of thiourea concentration up to 10.0 × 10−4 and then decreases with a further increase of thiourea concentration. The effect of increasing the monomer concentration brings about a significant enhancement in the graft yield. A suitable kinetic scheme has been proposed and the rate equation has been evaluated.