Photo-induced Synthesis, Characterization and Alkaline hydrolysis of Sodium salt of Partially Carboxymethylated Sodium Alginate–g–Poly(acrylonitrile)

Abstract

An efficient redox initiating system, ceric ammonium nitrate/nitric acid (CAN/HNO3) was employed first time to carry out photo-induced graft copolymerization of acrylonitrile (AN) onto Sodium salt of Partially Carboxymethylated Sodium alginate (Na-PCMSA, DS¯ = 1.10). The synthesis was optimized through the variation of different reaction variables in terms of determination of the highest grafting yields (%G = 316.53 and %GE = 99.31). The formation of graft copolymers was confirmed by IR spectral data. The thermal behavior of the graft copolymer, Na-PCMSA-g-PAN, was obtained from TGA. The optimally synthesized graft copolymer was hydrolyzed in alkaline medium to obtain the hydrogel, H-Na-PCMSA-g-PAN. The swelling characteristics of the hydrogel were preliminary investigated. The morphology of the hydrogel was studied using SEM. The chemical structure and thermal characteristics of the hydrogel were also investigated.