Microwave-Assisted Synthesis and Characterization of Poly(itaconic acid) Grafted Gellan Gum

Abstract

Poly(itaconic acid) was grafted on GG in aqueous medium under microwave irradiation using a catalytic amount of BPO. Grafted copolymers (GG-g-PIA) were characterized by FT-IR, TGA, and SEM techniques. The influence of microwave power, exposure time, and composition of the reaction mixture on extent of grafting was studied. Conditions for obtaining the highest extent of grafting were optimized. The rate of grafting was determined from weight measurements. The overall activation energy for grafting is found to be to be 28.3 kJ/mol, indicating the possibility of occurrence of the grafting process with absorption of low thermal energy.