Synthesis of Polyacrylamide Grafted Carboxymethylcellulose and Evaluation of Its Flocculation Characteristics

Poly-(acrylamide) grafted carboxymethylated cellulose (CMC) was prepared in aqueous solution using Ce+4 as its initiator. Two grades of graft copolymer were prepared by varying monomer concentration keeping all other factors constant. Intrinsic viscosity measurement of the graft copolymer showed that the length of the grafted chains depends on the monomer concentration. The polymers were characterized by IR spectroscopy, thermal analysis, and XRD studies. Flocculation performance of the best performing graft copolymer was compared with three commercial flocculants. It was further compared with another laboratory synthesized graft copolymer, sodium alginate-g-polyacrylamide, in coking and non-coking coal suspensions.