Micellar process for the production of acrylamide-alkyl acrylamide copolymers

Claim 1

A homogeneous micellar free radical copolymerization process for the formation of a copolymer of acrylamide and an alkyl acrylamide corresponding to the formula below which comprises the steps of: (a) forming a mixture of sodium dodecyl sulfate or other suitable surfactant, acrylamide monomer and alkyl acrylamide monomer under a nitrogen atmosphere; (b) adding deoxygenated water to said mixture to form a homogeneous reaction solution; (c) adding a free radical initiator to said homogeneous reaction solution to initiate polymerization of said acrylamide monomer and said alkyl acrylamide monomer; and (d) copolymerizing said acrylamide monomer and said alkyl acrylamide monomer at a sufficient temperature and for a sufficient period of time to form said copolymer of acrylamide/alkyl acrylamide and without the formation of substantial amounts of particulates or phase separation occurring, said copolymer having an intrinsic viscosity of about 1 to about 10 dl/g, said copolymer having the formula: ##STR2## wherein R 1 is a C 6 to C 22 alkyl or cycloalkyl group, R 2 is the same or different alkyl group as R 1 or hydrogen, x is about 90.0 to about 99.9 mole %, and y is about 0.1 to about 10.0 mole %.