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Graft polymerization of acrylonitrile onto wheat straw
Author(s) -
Fanta George F.,
Burr Robert C.,
Doane William M.
Publication year - 1987
Publication title -
journal of applied polymer science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.575
H-Index - 166
eISSN - 1097-4628
pISSN - 0021-8995
DOI - 10.1002/app.1987.070330318
Subject(s) - hemicellulose , cellulose , straw , lignin , polyacrylonitrile , acrylonitrile , chemistry , polymerization , extraction (chemistry) , polymer chemistry , nuclear chemistry , organic chemistry , polymer , inorganic chemistry , copolymer
Acrylonitrile was graft polymerized onto ground, water‐washed wheat straw using Fe 2+ ‐H 2 O 2 as initiator. Reaction conditions were selected to minimize homopolymer formation and maximize the amount of polyacrylonitrile (PAN) grafted to straw. Polymerizations typically yielded straw‐ g ‐PAN containing 30–35% PAN. A two‐step fractionation scheme was developed for determining the relative amounts of PAN grafted to cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin. This scheme involved (1) delignification of straw‐ g ‐PAN with sodium chlorite followed by removal of lignin‐grafted PAN by extraction with dimethylformamide (DMF), and (2) hydrolysis of the hemicellulose component with 1 N trifluoroacetic acid followed by DMF extraction of hemicellulose‐grafted PAN. Product remaining after these two treatments was assumed to be cellulose‐ g ‐PAN. When relative amounts of PAN grafted to cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin were compared with relative percentages of these components present in wheat straw, the percentage of total PAN grafted to lignin was less than its relative percentage in straw, whereas that grafted to hemicellulose was considerably more. Although the use of Ce 4+ as initiator gave little or no polymer with whole, water‐washed straw, grafted polymerization occurred when delignified straw was used as substrate. Relative amounts of PAN grafted to cellulose and hemicellulose were not greatly different from those observed with Fe 2+ ‐H 2 O 2 initiation onto whole straw.