Absorbent Polymers from Starch and Flour Through Graft Polymerization of Acrylonitrile and Comonomer Mixtures

Abstract

Abstract Polyacrylonitrile (PAN)‐containing graft copolymers of corn starch were prepared from monomer mixtures and then saponified, and dried. Incorporation of selected comonomers lead to shorter saponification times and higher yields of adsorbent products. Substitution of flour for starch gave products which had a higher absorbency than saponified starch‐ g ‐PAN.