Grafting vinyl monomers onto wool fibers IV. Graft copolymerization of methyl methacrylate onto wool using peroxydisulfate catalysed by silver ions

Graft copolymerization of methyl methacrylate onto wool was investigated in aqueous solution using peroxydisulfate catalysed by silver ions. The rate of grafting was determined by varying the concentration of monomer, peroxydisulfate ion, thiourea, the temperature and the solvent. The graft yield increased with increasing monomer concentration, peroxydisulfate concentration, thiourea concentration, and temperature in all cases to a certain value, beyond of which a decrease in graft yield was observed. The effect of certain inorganic salts and water soluble solvents on the rate of grafting was investigated. The alkali solubility of the grafted fiber was studied.