Copolymerization kinetics of poly(acrylonitrile‐ran‐2‐ethenyl‐pyridine) and its degradation apparent activation energy

2‐Ethenyl‐pyridine (EPD) was first used to successfully copolymerize with acrylonitrile (AN) in a H₂O/dimethyl formamide (DMF) mixture by using azobisisobutyronitrile as the initiator. Kinetics of copolymerization and degradation of poly(AN‐ran‐EPD) were discussed. The kinetic equation of copolymerization and the apparent activation energy of degradation of poly(AN‐ran‐EPD) were obtained. In H₂O‐rich reaction medium, copolymerization followed the suspension polymerization more, but in DMF‐rich reaction medium, copolymerization followed the solution polymerization more. Increase in DMF concentration in the solvent mixture lead to a rapid increase in the degradation apparent activation energy. The apparent activation energy decreased quickly with an increase in EPD concentration, and such a change became less prominent as the molar ratio of EPD/AN went beyond 3/100. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2008