| Abstract: | 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 (>98%) and percentage of grafting(>300%) 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. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 100: 4247–4251, 2006 |
