Microstructure and association property of hydrophobically modified polyacrylamide of a new family

A new family of hydrophobically modified polyacrylamides was synthesized via copolymerization of acrylamide (AM) and anionic surface-active monomer of acrylamide-type, sodium 2-acrylamido-tetradecane sulfonate (NaAMC(14)S), in aqueous solution. In the copolymerization, by varying various factors, such as the feed ratio of NaAMC14S to AM and the amount of added electrolyte NaCl and initiator, we prepared copolymers NaAMC(14)S/AM with different block structures. The relationship between structures and hydrophobic association properties of copolymer chains was studied by using fluorescence probe and viscosimetry. Effects of the content and length of the hydrophobic blocks and the total molecular weight on hydrophobic association of the copolymers in pure water and in brine solution were examined, respectivelv. The results show that in pure water, hydrophobic association of the copolymers was enhanced as the content and length of the hydrophobic block increase. On the other hands, for a given content and length of the hydrophobic block, the hydrophobic association of the copolymers was enhanced as the total molecular weight increases. For all the copolymers studied, the apparent viscosity of their solutions in pure water has a limited value, but the apparent viscosities of the copolymer brine solutions are much higher than that of their corresponding water solutions, and show strong positive salinity sensitivity. Similarly, the hydrophobic association of the copolymer in brine solutions was enhanced as the content and length of the hydrophobic block increase. (C) 2007 Published by Elsevier Ltd.