Synthesis and characterisation of poly(acryalamide) grafted carboxymethyl xanthan gum copolymer

Abstract

In the present work, an unreported graft copolymer of carboxymethyl xanthan gum and acrylamide has been synthesised by free radical polymerisation in a nitrogen atmosphere using ammonium persulphate as an initiator. The optimum reaction conditions adopted for affording maximum percentage of grafting including its grafting efficiency were obtained by varying the concentration of carboxymethyl xanthan gum from 4 to 24gdm−3; ammonium persulphate from 5×10−4 to 30×10−4moldm−3; acrylamide from 0.4 to 1.2moldm−3; reaction temperature from 55 to 75°C and reaction time from 30 to 90min. The synthesised graft copolymer has been characterised by 1H NMR, FTIR spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction measurement, thermal analysis, viscosity measurement and scanning electron microscopy. However, grafting of acrylamide onto carboxymethyl xanthan gum backbone enhanced its thermal stability. This graft copolymer might be well exploited globally as a potential carrier for drug delivery system.