Compatibilization of Acrylic Polymer-Silk Fibroin Blend Fibers. I. Graft Copolymerzation of Acrylonitrile onto Silk Fibroin

ABSTRACT: To synthesize effective compatibilizers for the compatibilization of acrylicpolymer–silk fibroin blend fibers, the homogeneous graft copolymerization of acryloni-trile onto silk fibroin, initiated by potassium persulfate–sodium bisulfite redox systemin 60 wt % ZnCl 2 aqueous solution was investigated. The percentage graft, percentageefficiency, and molecular weight of the grafted polyacrylonitrile increase with the in-crease of the concentration of initiator, the concentration of acrylonitrile, and the tem-perature to optimum values, respectively, and then decrease. With the increase ofreaction time, the percentage graft and percentage efficiency increase, whereas themolecularweight ofthegraftedpolyacrylonitrile decreases.Theinfluence ofthereactionconditions on the molecular architecture of the graft copolymers is also discussed. q 1998John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 69: 1089–1097, 1998 Key words: silk fibroin; acrylonitrile; graft copolymerization; compatibilization INTRODUCTION