N-Vinylformamide (NVF) free-radical polymerization was found to form polyme
r gels at high conversions both in bulk and in solution. the polymerization
was conducted at different temperatures, monomer and initiator concentrati
ons to show the gelation conditions. Gel fractions and gel swelling ratios
were also measured after separating the gel from the polymer samples. In or
der to confirm the crosslinking unit, a series of hydrolysis experiments we
re conducted on the gel samples. The hydrolysis results showed that the cro
sslinks in PNVF gels could be destroyed by alkaline hydrolysis. The most ap
propriate explanation to this fact is that crosslinking takes place via the
amide group.