Abstracto

rSynthesis and characterization of graft copolymerized acrylonitrile onto cellulose prepared from sisal fibre

T.Hajeeth, T.Gomathi, K.Vijayalakshmi, P.N.Sudha

Cellulose, a linear polysaccharide polymer with numerous glucose monosaccharide units is of enormous interest because of its applications in biosorption, biomedical, packaging, biofiltration and biocomposites. In this study the sisal fiber was prepared in four different stages such as the steam exploded fiber, bleached fiber, acid treated fiber and mechanically treated fiber using steam explosion method. These stages were prepared to convert it into cellulose. The graft copolymerization of acrylonitrile onto the extracted cellulose prepared fromsisal fiberwas done using the ceric ammoniumnitrate. The grafting conditions were optimized by changing the concentration of initiator and monomer. The characterization of the processed fibers and the graft copolymerwas done using FTIR,XRD, TGAand DSCstudies. The FTIR results of the graft copolymer clearly indicate that grafting had taken place between the acrylonitrile monomer and the cellulose obtained from sisal fiber. The change in crystallinity of the grafted polymeric samples was concluded from the XRD patterns. The results of TGA and DSC studies indicate the enhancement of thermal stability of the polymer upon grafting.