Homogeneous grafting of dichlorodimethylsilane onto ethyl cellulose

Abstract Homogeneous graft copolymerization of dichlorodimethylsilane (DCDMS) onto ethyl cellulose (EC) was carried out in benzene. The weight conversion, grafting percentage and grafting efficiency were determined as functions of the polymerization temperature and the concentrations of monomer and EC. The i.r. and NMR spectra of the graft copolymers showed peaks characteristic of grafted chains. The effect of some solvents on the graft polymerization of DCDMS onto EC was investigated. The use of thermodegraded EC for the graft polymerization of DCDMS increased the grafting percentage and weight conversion. The graft polymerization of DCDMS onto EC is accompanied by an ionic mechanism in the presence of evolved hydrogen chloride. The rate of copolymerization of DCDMS onto EC proceeded at higher rate ( R p - 3%/ min ). The activation energy of the reaction between DCDMS and EC can be determined ( E = 0.86 kcal/mol or 3.6 kJ/mol). A probable mechanism for the graft reaction of DCDMS onto EC was proposed.