Abstract
The use of a Ce (IV)-thiomalic acid (Ce4+-TMA) redox system as an initiator in the polymerization of acrylamide (M) in an aqueous medium has been investigated. The Ce4+ forms a 1∶1 complex with TMA, decomposing through free radical mechanism in an acid medium. From 5 to 15% conversion the rate equation is \(R_p = - \frac{{d[M]}}{{dt}} = k[M]^{3/2} [Ce^{4 + } ]^x [TMA]\) where Rp is the rate of polymerization and x is 0.5 or 1.0 depending upon the concentration of monomer. The overall energy of activation has been calculated to be 9.12 k cal. deg−1 mol−1(38.12 kJ/mol) in the investigated range of temperature (25°–40°C) the degree of polymerization (P) of the polymer is directly proportional to [M]. The number of average molecular weight of the polymer remains unaffected at lower concentration of Ce4+ and is found to decrease at higher concentrations.
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