Grafting polymerization of acrylonitrile and methyl acrylate on chitosan in the presence of cobalt(III) complexes

The kinetic features of the grafting polymerization of acrylonitrile and methyl acrylate on chitosan with the use of hexaamminecobalt(III) chloride as an initiator are studied in the temperature range 294–333 K. It is shown that hexaamminecobalt(III) chloride as an initiator provides a high grafting efficiency of vinyl polymers without degradation of the polysaccharide backbone. The activation energy of the process is ∼17 kJ/mol. The mechanical properties of the films of graft copolymers are better than those of the initial chitosan.