Decomposition of peroxide on carboxymethyl cellulose and its ability to initiate graft copolymerization

The decomposition of the peroxide group on fibrous carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) and its ability to initiate graft copolymerization were investigated. The peroxide on CMC liberated hydrogen peroxide when the sample was heated in an aqueous medium. The decomposition of the peroxide was markedly increased by the use of ferrous salt and the irradiation with light of λ > 300 nm. The grafting of methyl methacrylate on CMC peroxide was initiated by heating or irradiating with light, where the rate of grafting and the reciprocal of the average molecular weight of grafts in general were proportional to the square root of the peroxide content of the sample. The peroxide content of the sample was related closely to the number of grafts in initiation. The number was estimated as 17 times for thermal initiation and 6 times for photoinitiation at the maximum values. The CMC peroxide showed a marked activity toward photografting of acrylamide, acrylic acid, acrylonitrile, and vinyl acetate on the substrate.