Journal of Polymer Science Part A: Polymer Chemistry, Vol.37, No.15, 2719-2725, 1999
The inverse emulsion polymerization of acrylamide using polystyrene-graft-polyoxyethylene as the stabilizer
Inverse emulsion polymerization of aqueous solution of acrylamide (AM) in toluene is carried out using polystyrene-graft-polyoxyethylene (PSt-g-PEO) as an emulsifier. The kinetics of polymerization, morphology of the particle, and particle size of the inverse emulsion have been investigated. The rates of polymerization are found to be proportional to the initiator concentration, the monomer concentration, and the emulsifier concentration. The morphology of the particle shows a spherical structure. The effects of amphipathic graft copolymer structure on the average molecular weight of polyacrylamide are studied. The mechanism of the inverse emulsion polymerization using amphipathic graft copolymer as emulsifier is proposed.
Keywords:inverse emulsion polymerization;acrylamide;amphipathic copolymer;kinetics;polystyrene-graft-polyoxylene