A novel redox system, potassium diperiodatonickelate (Ni(IV))-casein is used to initiate graft copolymerization of Styrene onto casein under different conditions in aqueous alkaline solution. Graft copolymers with both high grafting efficiency (Ͼ98%) and percentage of grafting(Ͼ300%) are obtained, which indicated that (Ni(IV))-casein redox pair is an efficient initiator for this grafting. The effects of reaction parameters, such as monomer-to-casein weight ratio, initiator concentration, pH, time, and temperature, are investigated. A tentative initiation mechanism is proposed. The structures and properties of the graft copolymer are characterized by Fourier transform infrared Spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction diagrams, and Scanning Electron Microscope.
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