title: Graft polymerization of acrylic acid onto chitin nanofiber to improve dispersibility in basic water.
abstract: Graft copolymerization of acrylic acid (AA) on chitin nanofibers was carried out with potassium persulfate as a free radical initiator in an aqueous medium. The molar ratio of grafted AA increased with the AA concentration. The grafted chitin nanofibers were characterized by FT-IR, FE-SEM, UV-vis, XRD, and TGA. After polymerization, the characteristic morphology of chitin nanofibers was maintained. Chitin nanofibers grafted with AA were efficiently dissociated and dispersed homogeneously in basic water because of the electrostatic repulsion effect between nanofibers. AA was grafted on the surface and amorphous part of chitin nanofibers, and the original crystalline structure of α-chitin was maintained. At 330 °C, the weight residue of the graft copolymer increased with the grafted AA content.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Biotechnology, Graduate School of Engineering, Tottori University, 4-101 Koyama-cho Minami, Tottori 680-8552, Japan.
authors.forename: Shinsuke
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ifuku
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Biotechnology, Graduate School of Engineering, Tottori University, 4-101 Koyama-cho Minami, Tottori 680-8552, Japan.
authors.forename: Masayoshi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Iwasaki
authors.affiliation: Research Center for Bioscience and Technology, Tottori University, 4-101 Koyama-cho Minami, Tottori 680-8550, Japan.
authors.forename: Minoru
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Morimoto
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Biotechnology, Graduate School of Engineering, Tottori University, 4-101 Koyama-cho Minami, Tottori 680-8552, Japan.
authors.forename: Hiroyuki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Saimoto
mesh_terms: D000179:Acrylates / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism; D002686:Chitin / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism; D057139:Nanofibers / Q000737:chemistry*; D058105:Polymerization; D012995:Solubility; D014867:Water / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism; D014961:X-Ray Diffraction / Q000379:methods
chemical_list: D000179:Acrylates; D014867:Water; D002686:Chitin; C036658:acrylic acid