GRAFT POLYMERIZATIONS OF ACRYLONITRILE AND METHYL ACRYLATE ONTO STARCH AND CELLULOSE AT DIFFERENT STIRRING SPEEDS

Recent publications by Garczyk and Hornof state that stirring speed is an important variable in determining percent conversion of monomer to polymer during graft polymerization reactions with cellulose. In the reported experiments, which were a part of a long-standing research program on polysaccharide graft copolymers, the authors carried out a series of graft polymerizations onto starch and cellulose at different stirring speeds using two of the most frequently used monomers: acrylonitrile and methyl acrylate. Polymerizations were initiated with ceric ammonium nitrate, and reaction conditions were similar to those used by us in earlier studies. These experiments showed no large effects of stirring speed on the graft polymerization reaction, within a range of stirring speeds that one might consider normal for preparative polymerizations. Results are tabulated and discussed.