SYNTHESIS OF POLYFUNCTIONAL MACROINITIATOR FOR ATRP BASED ON CELLULOSE IN IONIC LIQUID

A polyfunctional macroinitiator based on cellulose, cellulose 2-bromoisobutyrylate (Cell-BiB) for atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) was successfully synthesized in room temperature ionic liquid, 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride (BMIMCl), without using any catalysts. Then, the Cell-BiB was used to initiate the graft polymerization of methacryloxyethyltrimethyl ammonium chloride (DMC) on the cellulose backbone by ATRP, using Cu(I)Br as catalyst and PMDETA as ligand. The synthesized cellulose-based macroinitiator and cellulose graft poly-DMC were characterized by FT IR and H-1 NMR spectroscopies and the results showed that DMC had been grafted onto the cellulose backbone successfully. Further, through X-ray observation, it was found that a remarkable decrease in crystallinity of cellulose after modified in ionic liquid.