Studies of the graft copolymerization of methyl methacrylate by means of the photochemical reduction of ceric ion adsorbed on cellulosic materials

It was observed that the rate of reduction of ceric ion adsorbed on cellulose was remarkably accelerated by irradiation with ultraviolet light, and this behavior depended upon the kind of cellulose. When the graft copolymerization of methyl methacrylate on cellulose with adsorbed ceric ion was carried out by irradiation with ultraviolet light, the percent grafting decreased for softwood, bleached sulfite pulp and increased for hardwood semichemical pulp. The average molecular weight of the grafts was observed generally to decrease. If it is assumed that the ceric ions, which are reduced at an accelerated rate in the early stages of reaction with SCP, do not participate in the graft formation, a relation is observed between the modified amount of reduced ceric ion and the number of grafted chains formed, and the molar ratios of these quantities are 12:1 without irradiation and 75:1 to 100:1 with irradiation. Even when the rate of reduction of ceric ion is accelerated, the increase in the number of grafted chains is found to be very small.