Synthesis of copolymers containing opposite charged comonomers and their interactions with metal ions

Radical polymerization was used to synthesize three copolymers of 3‐(methacryloylamino)propyl]trimethylammonium chloride and methacrylic acid P(MPTA‐co‐MA)]; three copolymers of MPTA and 2‐acrylamido‐2‐methyl‐1‐propane sulfonic acid P(MPTA‐co‐APSA)], which had different feed monomer mole ratios but a constant total number of moles (0.03 mol); and the homopolymers poly(MPTA), poly(MA), and poly(APSA). The yields for all homopolymers and copolymers were over 70 and 90%, respectively. All products were dissolved in water, purified, and fractioned by an ultrafiltration membrane with different exclusion limits of the molecular weight (3,000, 10,000, 30,000, and 100,000 g mol^?1). All fractions were lyophilized. The polymeric materials were characterized by FTIR and ¹H‐NMR spectroscopy. The metal ion interaction with the hydrophilic polymers was determined as a function of the pH and the filtration factor. It was dependent on the pH, type of ligand group, and charge of the metal ion. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 89: 1715–1721, 2003