Water-Soluble Copolymers. II. Synthesis and Characterization of Model Dextran-g-Acrylamides by Ce(lV)/HNO3-lnduced Initiation

In order to develop polymers useful as mobility control agents in enhanced oil recovery processes, water-soluble acrylamide grafted polysaccharide copolymers have been synthesized in water at 25° C using a ceric ammonium nitrate/nitric acid system. The effects of varying concentrations of ceric ion, monomer, and substrate on conversion, graft length, and molecular structure of the reaction products have been examined. The crude reaction products were purified by fractional precipitation and then were analyzed for nitrogen content using a micro-Kjeldahl method. The chemical structures of the graft copolymers were studied by selective hydrolysis of the carbohydrate backbones. Intrinsic viscosity and grafting length data were used to predict solution behavior of the graft copolymers prepared under controlled conditions. Aqueous size exclusion and viscosity studies showed direct correlations between hydrodynamic volume and length of the polyacrylamide side-chain grafts.