DOI: https://doi.org/10.55373/mjchem.v25i1.84

Keywords: Polyacrylamide; emulsion polymerisation; Brij 35; hydrophilic polymer

Abstract

Polyacrylamide (PAM), a synthetic biodegradable polymer derived from acrylamide (AM) monomers, has piqued the interest of researchers in various applications because of its unique physical, chemical, and thermal properties. PAM was successfully synthesised via an emulsion polymerisation technique using different concentrations of Brij 35 as a non-ionic surfactant and ammonium persulphate (APS) as a water-soluble initiator. The effects of different concentrations of non-ionic surfactant on the formation and thermal stability of PAM were discussed. All samples were characterised by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), thermo-gravimetric analysis (TGA) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis. The FTIR spectra exhibited prominent absorption bands such as v(C-H), v(C=O), v(CH2) and v(N-H) at 2924 cm-1, 1638 cm-1, 1465 cm-1 and 3326 cm-1, respectively. TGA analysis revealed that the percentage of mass loss varied at different temperatures ranging from 30 - 600 °C. SEM analysis showed substantial aggregations of PAM particles in bulblike structures with average diameters of 5 – 100 µm. Thus the concentration of Brij 35 had a significant effect on the formation and thermal stability of PAM.