| Abstract: | The polymerization of acrylamide (M) initiated by the Ce4+/thiourea (TU) redox system has been studied in an aqueous sulfuric acid medium at 35 ± 0.2°C under nitrogen atmosphere. The rate of polymerization is governed by the expression  The activation energy is 5.9 kcal deg?1 mol?1 in the investigated temperature range 30–50°C. The molecular weight is directly proportional to the concentration of monomer and inversely proportional to the catalyst concentration. With increasing concentration of DMF molecular weight decreases. The range of concentrations for which these observations hold at sulfuric acid concentration of 2.5 × 10?2 mol/L are monomer] = 5.0 × 10?2–3.0 × 10?1, catalyst] = (5.0–15.0) × 10?4, and activator] = (1.0–6.0) × 10?3 mol/L. |
