Grafting vinyl monomers onto silk fibers. XV. Graft copolymerization of methyl methacrylate onto silk using thallium (III) as initiator

The graft copolymerization of methyl methacrylate onto silk initiated by thallium (III) perchlorate was investigated in aqueous medium. The rate of grafting was evaluated varying the concentration of monomer, initiator, and acid, and the temperature. The graft yield was found to increase with increasing the monomer and initiator concentrations. The graft yield was found to decrease with increasing the acid concentration. The effect of inhibitors and various solvents on the graft yield was studied. From the Arrhenius plot the overall activation energy was found to be 4.2 kcal/mol. A suitable kinetic scheme has been proposed, and a rate equation has been derived.