Free radical graft copolymerization of nanofibrillated cellulose with acrylic monomers

Kuisma Littunen; Ulla Hippi; Leena Sisko Johansson; Monika Österberg; Tekla Tammelin; Janne Laine; Jukka Seppälä

doi:10.1016/j.carbpol.2010.12.064

Free radical graft copolymerization of nanofibrillated cellulose with acrylic monomers

Kuisma Littunen
, Ulla Hippi
, Leena Sisko Johansson
, Monika Österberg
, Tekla Tammelin
, Janne Laine
, Jukka Seppälä^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Aalto University

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Scientific › peer-review

188 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Nanofibrillated cellulose (NFC) was graft copolymerized in aqueous suspension by a redox-initiated free radical method. Cerium ammonium nitrate was used as initiator. Acrylic monomers used in the grafting were glycidyl methacrylate, ethyl acrylate, methyl methacrylate, butyl acrylate, and 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate. Effects of monomer type and concentration, initiator concentration and polymerization time on grafting from NFC were studied. Grafting was verified by several chemical characterizations and the synthesis method was found to be both efficient and selective for grafting. Overall, graft yields were higher than those reported in studies with macroscopic cellulose but surprisingly independent of the water solubility of each monomer. All modifications made NFC more hydrophobic, and some also improved its heat resistance. The structures formed by the grafted polymer varied from a thin coating to a matrix completely surrounding the nanofibrils. By performing the grafting in aqueous suspension, the nanofibrillar structure was retained.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	1039-1047
Number of pages	9
Journal	Carbohydrate Polymers
Volume	84
Issue number	3
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.carbpol.2010.12.064
Publication status	Published - 17 Mar 2011
MoE publication type	A1 Journal article-refereed

Funding

This work has been carried out as part of the project “Tailoring of nanocellulose structures for industrial applications (NASEVA)”, funded by the Finnish Funding Agency for Technology and Innovation (TEKES) . Forest Products Surface Chemistry research group of Aalto University is thanked for the AFM images and XPS, and VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland for solid-state NMR and TGA. Ritva Kivelä, Joseph Campbell, Sami Alakurtti, and Liisa Mansukoski are also acknowledged for the experimental work. Appendix A

Keywords

Acrylates
Copolymerization
Grafting from
Methacrylates
Nanofibrillated cellulose

Access to Document

10.1016/j.carbpol.2010.12.064

Cite this

@article{f6990a89b7e34beea5f25da2b232d6cf,

title = "Free radical graft copolymerization of nanofibrillated cellulose with acrylic monomers",

abstract = "Nanofibrillated cellulose (NFC) was graft copolymerized in aqueous suspension by a redox-initiated free radical method. Cerium ammonium nitrate was used as initiator. Acrylic monomers used in the grafting were glycidyl methacrylate, ethyl acrylate, methyl methacrylate, butyl acrylate, and 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate. Effects of monomer type and concentration, initiator concentration and polymerization time on grafting from NFC were studied. Grafting was verified by several chemical characterizations and the synthesis method was found to be both efficient and selective for grafting. Overall, graft yields were higher than those reported in studies with macroscopic cellulose but surprisingly independent of the water solubility of each monomer. All modifications made NFC more hydrophobic, and some also improved its heat resistance. The structures formed by the grafted polymer varied from a thin coating to a matrix completely surrounding the nanofibrils. By performing the grafting in aqueous suspension, the nanofibrillar structure was retained.",

keywords = "Acrylates, Copolymerization, Grafting from, Methacrylates, Nanofibrillated cellulose",

author = "Kuisma Littunen and Ulla Hippi and Johansson, \{Leena Sisko\} and Monika {\"O}sterberg and Tekla Tammelin and Janne Laine and Jukka Sepp{\"a}l{\"a}",

year = "2011",

month = mar,

day = "17",

doi = "10.1016/j.carbpol.2010.12.064",

language = "English",

volume = "84",

pages = "1039--1047",

journal = "Carbohydrate Polymers",

issn = "0144-8617",

publisher = "Elsevier",

number = "3",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Free radical graft copolymerization of nanofibrillated cellulose with acrylic monomers

AU - Littunen, Kuisma

AU - Hippi, Ulla

AU - Johansson, Leena Sisko

AU - Österberg, Monika

AU - Tammelin, Tekla

AU - Laine, Janne

AU - Seppälä, Jukka

PY - 2011/3/17

Y1 - 2011/3/17

N2 - Nanofibrillated cellulose (NFC) was graft copolymerized in aqueous suspension by a redox-initiated free radical method. Cerium ammonium nitrate was used as initiator. Acrylic monomers used in the grafting were glycidyl methacrylate, ethyl acrylate, methyl methacrylate, butyl acrylate, and 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate. Effects of monomer type and concentration, initiator concentration and polymerization time on grafting from NFC were studied. Grafting was verified by several chemical characterizations and the synthesis method was found to be both efficient and selective for grafting. Overall, graft yields were higher than those reported in studies with macroscopic cellulose but surprisingly independent of the water solubility of each monomer. All modifications made NFC more hydrophobic, and some also improved its heat resistance. The structures formed by the grafted polymer varied from a thin coating to a matrix completely surrounding the nanofibrils. By performing the grafting in aqueous suspension, the nanofibrillar structure was retained.

AB - Nanofibrillated cellulose (NFC) was graft copolymerized in aqueous suspension by a redox-initiated free radical method. Cerium ammonium nitrate was used as initiator. Acrylic monomers used in the grafting were glycidyl methacrylate, ethyl acrylate, methyl methacrylate, butyl acrylate, and 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate. Effects of monomer type and concentration, initiator concentration and polymerization time on grafting from NFC were studied. Grafting was verified by several chemical characterizations and the synthesis method was found to be both efficient and selective for grafting. Overall, graft yields were higher than those reported in studies with macroscopic cellulose but surprisingly independent of the water solubility of each monomer. All modifications made NFC more hydrophobic, and some also improved its heat resistance. The structures formed by the grafted polymer varied from a thin coating to a matrix completely surrounding the nanofibrils. By performing the grafting in aqueous suspension, the nanofibrillar structure was retained.

KW - Acrylates

KW - Copolymerization

KW - Grafting from

KW - Methacrylates

KW - Nanofibrillated cellulose

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/79951682798

U2 - 10.1016/j.carbpol.2010.12.064

DO - 10.1016/j.carbpol.2010.12.064

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:79951682798

SN - 0144-8617

VL - 84

SP - 1039

EP - 1047

JO - Carbohydrate Polymers

JF - Carbohydrate Polymers

IS - 3

ER -

Free radical graft copolymerization of nanofibrillated cellulose with acrylic monomers

Abstract

Funding

Keywords

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Cite this