Radiation induced grafting of vinyl pyrrolidone onto cellulose wood pulp was carried out in
heterogeneous and homogenous media using gamma radiation. Cellulose wood pulp was used in
different forms; a) in a homogenous solution by dissolving the wood pulp in N,N-
dimethylacetamide/Lithium chloride (DMAc/LiCl) mixture , b) in a membrane form, by precipitating
the cellulose solution in water and c) in a powder form. Factors affecting on the grafting such as
radiation dose, monomer concentration, precipitator concentration and thickness of the membrane have
been studied. The result showed that at the same dose, the grafting yield was higher with cellulose in
soluble form than in the membrane form, whereas cellulose in powder exhibited the lowest graft yield.
The grafted membrane was characterized by IR, TGA and SEM. The ability of the grafted membrane
to remove dyes (acid and basic dye), heavy metal ions (Co 2+ , Ni 2+ and Cu 2+ ) and phenols from
wastewater was also reported.