Kinetics of vinyl polymerization initiated by potassium permanganate/β-hydroxybutyric acid redox system

The aqueous polymerization of acrylamide initiated by potassium permanganate/β-hydroxybutyric acid has been studied volumetrically at 35 ± 0.01°C in an inert medium. The rate of polymerization shows nearly square root dependence on β-hydroxybutyric acid at low concentration (3.12 – 12.5 · 10^?3 mol dm^?3). The order with respect to potassium permanganate has been found to be 0.6 indicating thereby a bimolecular mode of termination. The polymerization rate has been varied linearly at low monomer concentrations i.e. from 2.5 –7.0 · 10^?2 mol dm^?3. The dependence of number average degree of polymerization on the initial rate of polymerization and temperature has been determined. The over-all activation energy has been found to be 51.66 kJ mol^?1. A kinetic reaction scheme is proposed on the basis of experimental results.