Polymers are gaining more attention due to a diverse range of applications.
Crosslinking, co-polymerization, curing, mixing, and blending are various methods of
polymer modification. However, the most effective and appealing method for
enhancing the morphology, chemical composition, and physical properties of polymers
is polymer grafting. Grafting permits modification of the parent structure, which
enhances physicochemical properties, compatibility, thermal stability, multiphase
response, flexibility, and reactivity of the parent polymer. Grafting includes the
insertion of a functional group into the polymer backbone, grafting a sidechain to the
polymer backbone, and combining one or more monomers on the polymer with or
without an initiator by employing a variety of chemical, biological, and physical
activators. The different technique employed in polymer grafting involves ionic
grafting, radical generation using free radical polymerization (FRP), reversible
addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT), and nitroxide-mediated polymerization
(NMP), as well as physical methods like plasma irradiation, UV radiation,
photochemical grafting, and biological methods like enzymatic grafting. Polymers
functionalized using the grafting technique can be employed in various fields like
pharmaceuticals, drug delivery applications, wastewater treatment, tissue engineering,
diagnosis, the textile industry, biotechnology, and other fields.
Keywords: Enzymatic polymerization, Free radical polymerization, Grafting polymer, Initiator, Plasma irradiation.
