Molecular Characteristics Of Polymerized Surfactants: Influence Of Introduced Crosslinking Agent And Monomer Concentration

Polymerizable surfactants are currently attracting considerable interest due to their promising applications in various fields of science and engineering. The present work is devoted to studies of crosslinked poly(N-acryloyl-11-aminoundecanoic acid) and sodium poly(N-acryloyl-11-aminoundecanoate) that were synthesized in reaction mixtures of various compositions (i.e. with different amounts of a crosslinking agent and monomer concentrations). The products were studied by viscometry, dynamic light scattering, sedimentation velocity ultracentrifugation, flow birefringence as well as equilibrium and non-equilibrium electric birefringence. It was established that both intramolecular and intermolecular crosslinks are formed in the polymerization process. Molecular optical methods and electro-optical methods were used to determine the sizes of macromolecules with intramolecular crosslinks and the structures containing intermolecular crosslinks that were prepared at various concentrations of the monomer and the crosslinking agent. It was demonstrated that a simultaneous decrease in the amount of the crosslinking agent and decrease in the initial monomer concentration during the synthesis resulted in a reduction in the number of intramolecular crosslinks and molecular masses of the synthesized crosslinked macromolecules. (c) 2019 Society of Chemical Industry