Radiation (60Co)-Induced Graft Copolymerization of Acrylamide on Jute Fiber

The radiation induced graft copolymerization of acrylamide onto jute fibers was studied following preirradiation of jute in air using a⁶⁰Co source of γ-radiation and subsequent polymerization of acrylamide in a limited aqueous system under nitrogen at 607°C. An increase of the time of preirradiation (at a fixed dose rate) increased the percent grafting measurably and the grafting efficiency marginall Grafting effects showed further improvement on addition of Fe²⁺ or Co²⁺ ions to the system prior to the polymerization step. Increasing the concentration of Fe²⁺ or Co²⁺ ion led to an increase in the grafting parameters with a leveling off effect in the higher concentration range, however. An increase in the polymer (jute) content for a fixed monomer content produced a significant increase in the efficiency of grafting, while % grafting followed a slowly decreasing trend.