EFFECT OF POLYDIALLYLETHYLAMINE-HYDROCHLORIDE AS A TEMPLATE FOR THE RADICAL POLYMERIZATION OF ACRYLIC-ACID IN AQUEOUS-SOLUTION

The gamma radiation-induced polymerization of acrylic acid (AA) in the presence of polydiallylethylamine hydrochloride pDAEA-HCl as a template polymer (T) by a free radical mechanism was studied. The results show that the rate of polymerization (R(p)) changed characteristically with the amount of a template polymer in the solution and went through a maximum at polymer/monomer molar ratio of 0.4. Beyond this ratio R(p) decreases with increasing the concentration of T. It was found that at a constant polymer/monomer molar ratio of 0.4, R(p) increases with increasing the radiation dose. The formed polymer consisting of pAA/pDAEA-HCl has been found to be different as the polymerization condition were varied. The shift in the absorption bands to a longer wavelength was observed in the spectrum of pAA/pDAEA-HCl is due to the association of the acidic groups of AA and the basic quaternary ammonium groups of the added template polymer by hydrogen bonds.