Polymer‐Grafted Modification of Activated Carbon by Surface‐Initiated AGET ATRP

Abstract

Abstract We demonstrate surface‐initiated activators generated by electron transfer atom‐transfer radical polymerization (SI‐AGET ATRP) of methyl methacrylate (MMA) and tert ‐butyl acrylate ( t ‐BA) on activated carbon (AC), and polyacrylic acid (PAA) graft AC (AC@PAA) is obtained after hydrolysis of poly( tert ‐butyl acrylate) [P( t ‐BA)]. Interestingly, the sorption capabilities of the copper ions by AC@PAA are larger than AC and can be adjusted by varying chain lengths of grafted PAA, giving these materials potential application in wastewater treatment. The linear polymerization kinetics, linear evolution of the molecular weight of the cleaved polymer and monomer conversion all demonstrate a well‐controlled polymerization.