Title: STUDIES ON GRAFT COPOLYMERIZATION OF 2-HYDROXYETHYLMETHACRYLATE ONTO KAPPA-CARRAGEENAN INITIATED BY CERIC AMMONIUM NITRATE
Abstract: The polysaccharide, kappa-carrageenan (kC), has been chemically modified by graft copolymerization of 2-hydroxyethylmethacrylate (HEMA) in an aqueous medium using ceric ammonium nitrate (CAN) as an initiator under argon atmosphere.A plausible reaction mechanism of grafting has been suggested.Evidence of grafting was obtained by comparison of FTIR spectra of kC and homopolymer-free kC-g-poly(HEMA) as well as solubility characteristics and gravimetric analysis of the products.The optimum reaction conditions affording maximum grafting ratio and add-on value have been determined.The grafting parameters have been found to increase with increasing in kC, CAN, and HEMA concentrations as well as polymerization time and temperature, up to a certain value, but these parameters decrease on further increasing in reaction conditions.