In aqueous two-phase system, azodiisobutyronitrile (AIBN) was adsorbed on starch by dissolve- precipitate method. Free radical was then produced by its thermolysis, thus graft copolymerization of starch and acrylamide could be initiated. The effect of factors such as initiating system, organic solvent for AIBN dissolving, time for pre-initiation, concentration of initiator, composition and concentration of disperse system on monomer conversion, grafting efficiency, and dissolution property of the reaction product were studied. The optimum conditions of the reaction were as follows: AIBN was used as initiator and methanol as solvent; pre-initiation time was 25 min; concentration of AIBN was 2.6 x 10(-4) mol/L; polyethylene glycol (PEG) and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) was used as disperse system, the ratio of m(PEG):m(PVA) was 2.0:1 and their total mass fraction was 6.5%; both pre-initiation and polymerization temperatures were 60-65 degrees C. Monomer conversion (C) and grafting efficiency (GE) of the product obtained under these conditions were 99.4% and 99.1%, respectively.
