Radiation-induced graft copolymerization of methyl methacrylate onto natural and modified wool. I. Grafting and characterization

The radiation-induced graft copolymerization of methyl methacrylate onto wool fibers and chemically modified (oxidized, methylated, reduced, and crosslinked) wool fibers was investigated in dimethylformamide at room temperature. The homopolymer was separated from the graft copolymer by Soxhlet extraction. The grafting increased with increase in radiation dosage from 0.5 to 1.5 Mrads. The % graft-on depended on the nature of the wool fibers and decreased in the following order: methylated wool, reduced wool, oxidized wool, natural wool, and crosslinked wool. The molecular weights of the grafted copolymer (after separation from the wool fibers) and homopolymers were determined viscometrically. An increase in the radiation dosage reduced the molecular weights of the polymers