Polymerization of N-Vinylcaprolactam and Characterization of Poly(N-Vinylcaprolactam)

Poly(N-vinylcaprolactam), PNVCL, is a nonionic, nontoxic, water soluble, thermally sensitive and biocompatible polymer. It contains hydrophilic carboxylic and amide groups with hydrophobic carbon-carbon backbone suitable for biomedical applications. In this study, N-vinylcaprolactam was polymerized by free radical polymerization at 50, 60 and 70°C. The synthesized polymers were white powder, soluble in water and common organic solvents. The percent conversion vs. time plot is almost linear up to about 60% conversion without induction period. The activation energy of polymerization was calculated as 108.4 kJ/mol from the Arrhenius plot. FTIR and NMR results showed that polymerization takes place by opening of carbon-carbon double bond without any change in the caprolactam ring. Polymer was characterized by FTIR, ¹H-NMR and ¹³C -NMR, DSC, TGA and XRD techniques. The DSC thermogram of monomer has shown a melting point at 37.3°C. The polymer has T_g value at 1.8°C and softening temperature at 68.8°C. It was determined from the X-Ray powder pattern that the polymerization proceed in the b-crystallographic axis direction.