GRAFT COPOLYMERIZATION OF VINYL MONOMERS ONTO CHITOSAN:III: Graft Copolymerization of Acrylamide onto Chitosan for Antibacterial Activity

The biopolymer chitosan was chemically modified by grafting polyacrylamide in a homogeneous aqueous phase by using ceric ammonium nitrate as the initiator and in the presence of N, N-methylene-bis-acrylamide as a cross linking agent. The graft copolymerization of acrylamide onto chitosan was investigated using ceric ammonium nitrate as the initiator. The effect of initiator concentration, monomer concentration, time and temperature on % G and % GE were studied. The grafted samples were characterized using FTIR, TGA, SEM and XRD methods. From the FTIR data it was ascertained that grafting has occurred considerably. The morphology of the grafted polymer was observed from the SEM picture. The thermal analysis indicated the different stages of degradation of the grafted copolymer. The antibacterial activity of chitosan as well as the grafted samples were investigated using some gram positive and gram negative bacteria. Grafted products improved considerably the antibacterial activity.