Gamma radiation-induced grafting of acrylamide and dimethyl diallyl ammonium chloride onto starch

Corn starch graft copolymers were prepared from acrylamide/dimethyl diallyl ammonium chloride binary monomers (AM/DMDAAC) by a simultaneous radiation grafting method, and were characterized by FTIR and 1H NMR techniques, weight measurement and titration method. The copolymers with high grafting ratio and high grafting efficiency of binary monomers were achieved at absorbed doses of 2 kGy and 3 kGy using a 6:9.8:4.2 (w/w/w) ratio of starch/AM/DMDAAC, but their cationic degrees were low. Grafting ratio, grafting efficiency and cationic degree of the copolymers increased with increasing AM content in comonomer mixtures and then decreased at 3 kGy using a 6:14 ratio of starch:total comonomers, but their cationic degrees generally decreased with increasing AM content. The grafting ratio, the grafting efficiency and the cationic degree of the copolymers increased, but the grafting efficiency of DMDAAC decreased with varying starch/(AM + DMDAAC) ratio from 6:3 to 6:18 at 3 kGy by using a fixed 7:3 ratio of AM:DMDAAC.