Grafting of methyl methacrylate onto collagen initiated by tributylborane

Abstract

Abstract The graft copolymerization of methyl methacrylate onto collagen initiated by tributylborane was investigated in aqueous medium. The total conversion, percentage of grafting and efficiency of grafting increased with increasing collagen content. The optimum conditions on the percentage of grafting and efficiency of grafting were determined by varying initiator concentration, monomer concentration, and polymerization temperature. The grafting onto denaturated collagen was also studied. It has been suggested that the grafting onto collagen proceeds by a radical mechanism via a complex of TBB and hydrated collagen.