Graft copolymerization onto chitosan-I. Grafting of ethylmethacrylate using ceric ammonium nitrate as an initiator

Grafting of ethylmethacrylate (EMA) onto chitosan in aqueous medium initiated by ceric ammonium nitrate (CAN) under N-2 atmosphere has been studied. The effect of monomer concentration, initiator concentration, polymerization temperature, polymerization time and material to liquor ratio have been studied in terms of %GE and %Add-on. The optimum conditions obtained for the grafting of EMA on 1.0 g chitosan were: [CAN] 0.0018 mol/L, [EMA] 0.025 mol/L, Temperature = 30 degreesC, Time = 180 min, and material to liquor ratio 1:7. The graft copolymer was characterized by FTIR, x-ray diffraction (XRD) for the crystallinity of the copolymer and TGA for thermal stability of the copolymer.