Abstract
Corncob was modified by graft copolymerization to widen its range of applications. Grafted corncob was prepared by graft copolymerization of acrylamide (AAm) and methacrylic acid (MAA) onto corncob using ferrous ammonium sulfate/H2O2 as a redox initiator. Grafted corncob was characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectra (FT-IR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), respectively. The results showed that AAm and MAA were successfully grafted onto corncob's backbone, and the grafted corncob's thermal stability improved. The effects of monomer mass ratio, initiator concentration, reaction temperature and time on graft copolymerization had been studied in detail. Taking grafting percentage and grafting efficiency as functions, the optimum reaction conditions were obtained as follows: m (AAm): m (MAA) = 2:1; Monomer = 3 g; [FeAmSO4] = 1.0×10-2 mol/L; [H2O2] = 0.15 mol/L; T = 70 °C; Time = 2 h. The grafted corncob has a potential application in heavy metal ions wastewater treatment.