| abstract |
There is disclosed a process for the aqueous solution or emulsion polymerization of acrylamide monomer to produce homopolymers of very high molecular weight using mixtures of water and monomer at least one of which can be contaminated with small amounts of polymerization inhibiting components. In the process, a minimum effective amount of a redox catalyst is utilized in order to obtain very high molecular weight by incrementally adding one member of a redox pair to a solution of the monomer containing a second redox pair number. The process can be initiated at ambient temperatures and pressures, and polymerization is effected without providing additional heat to the reaction mass. Utilizing monomer concentrations of about 10 to about 50 percent by weight, molecular weights of about 1,000,000 to 10,000,000 can be obtained. |