Peculiarities of the preparation of copolymers of acrylamide with sodium acrylate in inverse emulsions

The polymerization of acrylamide (AA) in inverse emulsions in the presence of saponifying agents (NaOH and Na₂CO₃) and potassium persulphate at 30–50° has been investigated. The rates of the polymerization and alkaline hydrolysis increase with increasing concentration of saponifying agents, AA, initiator and temperature. The molecular weight of copolymers decreases with increasing concentration of saponifying agents for polymerization in water-toluene emulsions and in aqueous solutions. It has been shown that the alkaline hydrolysis in inverse emulsions polymerization of AA is a second-order reaction, with rate proportional to both the amide and the alkaline agent concentrations. The effective overall energies of activation of the alkaline hydrolysis were 57.5 (in the presence of NaOH) and 57.0 kJ/mol (in the presence of Na₂CO₃).