Grafting of 4‐Vinyl Pyridine onto Nylon‐6 Initiated by Cu(III)

Abstract

In this article, the graft copolymerization of 4-vinyl pyridine (4VP) onto nylon-6 (PA6) using potassium diperiodacuprate (III) (DPC)-PA6 redox system as initiator is investigated in an alkaline medium. The structure and the properties of graft copolymer are confirmed by Fourier transfer infrared spectroscopy (IR), X-ray diffraction and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The mechanism is proposed to explain the generation of radicals and the initiation. The effects of reaction variables, such as the initiator concentration, ratio of 4VP to PA6, pH, as well as reaction temperature and time are investigated. Graft copolymers with high grafting efficiency (.95%) were obtained, which indicated that the DPC -PA6 redox system was an efficient initiator for this graft copolymerization. The quaternized PA6-g-P4VP (QPAVP) is proven to be an excellent adsorbent to heavy metal ions.