Abstract
Acrylonitrile (AN) was copolymerized with itaconic acid metal complexes [Co(II),Ni(II),Cu(II)] aiming to synthetize self-colored acrylonitrile fiber. The copolymerization occurred in water at 60 degrees C using sodium bisulfite and potassium persulfate as redox initiators. The resulting copolymers are colored and exhibited high thermal stability as shown from their TGA curves. The investigated copolymers exhibited comparable thermal stability as that of PAN. The AN/itaconic acid Co(NO3)(2) copolymer was considerably the most thermal stable copolymer while that of Ni(II) copolymer was the less stable one. Cu(II) copolymer showed an intermediate stability. The data also revealed that the maximum degradation occurred after 300 degrees C (the cyclization temperature). Thus, neither the copolymerization nor the complexation affected the nitrile oligomerization reaction. The effect of adding ammonium hydroxide solution to acrylonitrile-itaconic acid copper(II) complex copolymer on the thermal stability of copolymer was also studied.