Determination of the monomer reactivity ratios for copolymerization of itaconic acid and acrylamide by conductometric titration method

Compositions of low conversion itaconic acid-acrylamide (IA-AAm) copolymers synthesized with solution polymerization in aqueous medium by using potass ium persulfate under nitrogen atmosphere were determined by conductometric titration method. The results were evaluated by various linear and nonlinea r methods. The monomer reactivity ratios were found to be r(IA) = 1.47 +/- 0.03, r(AAm) = 0.76 +/- 0.02 with Fineman-Ross, r(IA) = 1.25 +/- 0.10, r(AA m) = 0.67 +/- 0.05 with Kelen-Tudos, r(IA) = 1.65 +/- 0.21, r(AAm) = 0.88 /- 0.08 with Tidwell-Mortimer methods. For this system, the analysis of res ults show that IA is a more reactive monomer in IA-AAm copolymerization. (C ) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.