High-yield grafting of carboxylated polymers to wood pulp fibers

Poly(ethylene-alt-maleic acid), PEMAc, is a linear polymer that, along with its isomer polyacrylic acid, has the highest carboxylic acid content of any polymer. The goal of this work was to elucidate the mechanisms that control the amount of PEMAc that is permanently fixed on pulp fibers after the impregnation of dry pulp with a dilute PEMAc solution followed by drying/heating (curing). Two mechanisms by which PEMAc is fixed to cellulose fibers …