Grafting of wool with vinyl monomers by using trichloroacetic acid–bis(acetonylacetonato)‐copper(II) cocatalyst

摘要

AbstractGraft copolymerization of wool with methyl methacrylate (MMA) and acrylonitrile (AN) was effected under the catalytic influence of trichloroacetic acid (TCA) together with bis(acetonylacetonato)copper(II). Investigation of the action of the cocatalyst on wool in the absence of monomer revealed that the treated wool is completely soluble in dilute alkali. The effect of storage on the catalyzed wool was also studied. Increasing the period of storage, before adding the monomer, causes a significant decrease in the graft yields, indicating vitiation of some of the free radicals on the wool backbone. Based on these studies, a mechanism for the grafting reaction was proposed. Moreover, grafting of wool modified through its disulfide bonds and amino and hydroxyl groups suggests that the thiol, hydroxyl, and amino groups participate in the grafting reaction as sites for graft attachment. Wool—graft copolymers show excellent antifelt properties, particularly at higher levels of graftin