Study of poly (acrylamide-co-2-acrylamido-2-methylpropane sulfonic acid) hydrogel using gamma radiation initiation

Full text: Poly (acrylamide-co-2-acrylamido-2-methylpropane sulfonic acid ) (PAAM-co-AMPS) polyelectrolyte hydrogels were formed by using γ-radiation to initiate polymerization and cross-linking. The dependence of chain growth and cross-linking of liquid-like gel on absorbed dose was observed by viscosity measurement. It was found that the viscosity of liquid-like gel increased non-linearly with increasing radiation dose. Crosslinking took place at about 2,300 Gy. It was noted that an ageing effect occurred, such that the viscosity of liquid-like gels decreased significantly on standing. X-ray diffraction revealed that after dehydration the dried gels were amorphous, suggesting that radiation polymerization occurs by random initiation and propagation. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) indicated a clear distinction between the thermal behaviour of the homopolymer gels formed by irradiation, and the behaviour of the copolymer gels. PAAM-co-AMPS gels have enhanced thermal stability in comparison to PAAM and PAMPS. The melting points of water in the gels initially increase with increasing dose, and decrease slightly at very high radiation dose. Those trends can be explained by the variation in the numbers of solute molecules or ions in the gels with absorbed dose. Melting points of water in gels can be used for observation of the polymerization process associated with irradiation. Copolymer composition (expressed by either f1 (AAM molal fraction ) or f2 (AMPS molal fraction) ) associated with radiation dose was determined by both elemental analysis and FTIR. Both methods show that f1 increases to a maximum with increasing dose, and subsequently decreases. It is concluded that PAAM-co-AMPS hydrogels were synthesised successfully by gamma radiation initiation, and that copolymer compositions are dependent on radiation dose