Synthesis and Characterization of Chitosan‐graft‐Poly(3‐(trimethoxysilyl)propyl methacrylate) Initiated by Ceric (IV) Ion

The grafting of 3‐(trimethoxysilyl)propyl methacrylate (TMSPM) onto chitosan by ceric ion initiation was studied under homogeneous conditions in 2% acetic acid solution. The grafted polymer was characterized by FT‐IR, ¹H‐NMR, TGA and XRD and swelling studies. TGA results showed that the incorporation of TMSPM to the chitosan chains decreased the thermal stability of the grafted chitosan. Due to the grafting of TMSPM, the crystallinity of chitosan derivatives was found to be destroyed. The solubility of the grafted chitosan in water was improved. The effects of reaction conditions such as initiator concentration, monomer concentration, reaction temperature and reaction time were studied by determining the grafting parameters such as grafting and grafting efficiency. Under optimum conditions, the grafting parameters were achieved as 1440 and 97%, respectively.

Keywords:

• chitosan
• 3‐(trimethoxysilyl)propyl methacrylate
• graft copolymerization
• ceric ammonium nitrate
• thermal studies

5 Acknowledgements

M. Prabaharan thanks the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT), for awarding a post‐doctoral research grant (SFRH/BPD/14671/2003). Financial support for this work was provided by FCT, through the POCTI and FEDER programs and by the European Union funded STREP Project HIPPOCRATES (NMP3‐CT‐2003‐505758).