Micellar polymerization of surfactants - Sodium 6-acrylamidocaproate and sodium 11-(N-methyl acrylamido)undecanoate

Abstract

Micelle-forming sodium 6-acrylamidocaproate (Na 6-AAC) and sodium 11-(N-methyl acrylamido)undecanoate (Na 11-MAAU) were synthesized and polymerized in aqueous solutions. The polymerization was very rapid and it followed first-order kinetics with respect to the monomer and one-half order to K2S2O8. The activation energy for the polymerization of Na 11-MAAU (62.3 kJ/mol) was much lower than that for Na 6-AAC (98.1 kJ/mol). The -Mw. for the former was around one million and it was only one-third of that for the latter. Their MWD (-Mw/-Mn ∼- 1.5) are relatively narrow. The relationships between intrinsic viscosity [η]o and -Mw for these polysurfactants have also been established. © 1989 Springer-Verlag.