Synthesis and nucleation mechanism of inverse emulsion polymerization of acrylamide by RAFT polymerization: A comparative study

Well-defined poly (acrylamide) is synthesized by RAFT inverse emulsion polymerization using hydrophilic and lipophilic initiators. The kinetic behavior observed for RAFT inverse emulsion polymerization is similar to that for RAFT inverse miniemulsion polymerization. The nucleation mechanism of inverse emulsion polymerization of acrylamide is firstly investigated by RAFT polymerization and verified by GPC and SEM measurements. Droplet nucleation is found to be the primary mechanism in the inverse emulsion polymerization of acrylamide. However, polymerization occurring in the continuous phase is not negligible when lipophilic initiator is used.