Comparison of simultaneous and pre-irradiation grafting of N-vinylpyrrolidone to cotton-cellulose

Cotton-cellulose samples with modified surface properties were prepared by simultaneous and pre-irradiation grafting methods, respectively, using N-vinylpyrrolidone monomer. In the mutual grafting experiments Mohr salt was used to avoid homopolymer formation. Under optimal conditions a few percent grafting was obtained by pre-irradiation grafting while in the case of mutual grafting the yields were one order of magnitude higher. By using the mutual method at higher doses the samples were covered by a thick layer while in the case of the pre-irradiation method the samples disintegrated. NVP grafting increased the water uptake ability of cellulose by a factor of 2–3.