Evaluation of Physico-Chemical Properties of Modified Silk Fiber

In this paper, we report the effect of surface modification of B. mori silk fibers on its physico-chemical properties. Modification of silk fibers was carried out through graft-copolymerization of acrylonitrile monomer onto it in the presence of ascorbic acid/ H₂O₂ initiator. The effects of varying the time, temperature, initiator concentration, and monomer concentration on graft-copolymerization were studied in terms of grafting parameters, such as percent grafting and percent efficiency. The graft copolymers were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and thermo gravimetric analysis (TGA) techniques. The grafted samples were further evaluated for their physical properties such as swelling behavior, moisture absorption, and chemical resistance properties.