Abstract: | The kinetics of the aqueous polymerization of methyl methacrylate initiated by potassium peroxydisulfate–citric acid catalyzed by silver ion was investigated in nitrogen atmosphere. The rate of polymerization is proportional to the square root of peroxydisulfate concentration. The initial rate increases with increasing citric acid concentration up to 15 × 10?3M, after which it decreases. The rate of polymerization also increases initially with monomer concentration and decreases at higher monomer concentration. The effects of temperature and the addition of some solvents and salts on the rate of polymerization have also been studied and a suitable kinetic scheme has been proposed for the reaction. |