Chemical and mechanical properties of butyl methacrylate grafted wool fiber

摘要

Because polymer-grafted wool fibers had been reported to have better functional performance, a K2S2O8-NaHSO3 redox system was used as the initiator for the grafting copolymerization of butyl methacrylate (BMA) onto wool fibers. Grafted samples of wool-g-BMA with different grafting percentages (5.2-25.86) were obtained through variations in the monomer concentration in the reaction system. The evidence for grafting was provided by scanning electron microscopy and infrared spectroscopy. After the grafting, the moisture retention of the wool-g-BMA fibers decreased slightly. Optical measurements showed that the birefringence decreased, indicating a lower degree of molecular orientation of the wool-g-BMA fibers. The tensile strength increased as the grafting percentage increased. Beyond an 18-25% grafting percentage, the elongation at break decreased, and this indicated a reduction of the elastic deformation, which meant that the flexibility of the modified fibers may have deteriorated. (C) 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [References: 18]