Grafting of acrylonitrile onto allylated Plantain pulp by potassiumpermanganate/ toluene redox pair

Abstract: The graft copolymerization of acrylonitrile onto allylated plantain pulp fiber by permanganate/toluene redox system has been investigated. Plantain fiber (Musa spp) was converted to the holocelluose and bleached using sodium hypochlorite solution. The bleached holocellulose was modified by allylation reaction using allylchloride yielding degree of substitution of 2.33. Graft copolymerization of acrylonitrile onto unmodified and on the allylated derivative was conducted using the potassium-permanganate/toluene redox system in an aqueous medium. The Graft yield for the allylated fiber was generally lower than the value for unmodified fiber, for the latter, graft yield was up-to 80% at 0.63M toluene concentration. The lower graft yield for the allyl fiber was ascribed to the resonance stabilization of the allyl macro radicals. For the allylated fiber, Pg/Pgo is less than unity over the same concentration range of toluene. The lower reactivity of the allyl fiber was attributed to resonance stabilization of the allyl radical species.