Effect of dimethylaminoethyl methacrylate on the graft copolymerization of ethyl acrylate onto hydroxypropyl methylcellulose in aqueous medium

Graft copolymerization of an ethyl acrylate (EA) and dimethylaminoethyl methacrylate (DMAEMA) monomer mixture onto water-soluble hydroxypropyl methylcellulose was investigated with potassium persulfate (KPS) as the initiator in an aqueous medium. The effects of introducing DMAEMA onto the graft copolymerization and the properties of the resulting latex that was produced were studied systematically. The optimum conditions for the graft copolymerization in terms of percentage of grafting and grafting efficiency were determined. The graft copolymer was characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectra, elemental analyses, nuclear magnetic resonance, transmission electron microscopy, and dynamic light scattering methods. The results suggest that the introduction of the DMAEMA monomer clearly accelerates the initial rate of the graft copolymerization, whereas the grafting parameters decrease significantly with increasing amounts of DMAEMA. These results can be attributed to the relatively large size of the DMAEMA molecule, its redox reaction with KPS, its hydrophilicity in water, and its chain transfer effect. The equilibrium humidity adsorption behavior and acid solubility of graft the copolymer films were also studied.