Grafting of glycidyl methacrylate onto gelatin

Gelatin was graft copolymerized with poly(glycidyl methacrylate) using potassium peroxydisulfate in aqueous medium. Effect of temperature, time, initiator, monomer, and backbone concentrations were studied. The percent grafting was found to increase initially and then decrease in all the cases except with variation of monomer concentration. The rate of grafting, grafting efficiency, and percent of grafting were calculated. The grafting results have been discussed in the light of the rate of grafting. Mechanical properties, FT IR spectra, percent swelling, and percent dye uptake were carried out on the graft copolymerization and the results discussed.