Grafting of Methacrylic Acid to Loomstate Viscose Fabric Using KMnO₄/NaHSO₃ System

Potassium permanganate/sodium bisulphite redox system induced polymerization of methacrylic acid (MAA) with viscose fabric was studied under a variety of conditions. The polymerization reaction was studied with respect to graft yield, homopolymer, total conversion and graft efficiency. Results obtained indicated that increasing the MAA concentration, duration and temperature of polymerization enhances the graft yield, total conversion and homopolymer. Similar situations were encountered with KMnO ₄ and NaHSO ₃ concentrations but up to a certain limit after which these polymerization criteria decrease Meanwhile, the graft efficiency exhibits different maxima, depending upon the factors determining the polymerization reaction. Conversely, all the polymerization criteria decrease as the liquor ratio increases. A tentative mechanism for the polymerization reaction is also reported.