Synthesis and characterization of starch-poly(methyl acrylate) graft copolymers using horseradish peroxidase

Horseradish peroxidase (HRP)-mediated graft polymerization in the presence of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and acetylacetone (Acac) has been successfully applied to the synthesis of starch-poly(methyl acrylate) (PMA). The graft copolymer was characterized by Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR), elemental analysis, nuclear magnetic resonance ((1)H NMR and (13)C NMR), and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). FT-IR, elemental analysis and NMR confirmed that methyl acrylate (MA) was grafted onto starch successfully. DSC results showed the graft reaction had changed the crystalline regions of the gelatinized starch. The effects of pH, MA content, HRP dosage, incubation temperature and time on grafting percentage (GP) and grafting efficiency (GE) were also investigated. The GP and GE under optimal conditions reached 30.21% and 45.13%, respectively.