Abstract:
The present work was undertaken to combine nonionic vinyl acetate (VAC) with anionic acrylic acid (AA) or methacrylic acid (MAA) monomers in the presence of ethylen glycol dimethacrylate (EGDMA) as crosslinking agent through radical polymerization. Poly (vinyl acetate-co-acrylic acid) VAC/AA 50:50 to 100:0 six samples and Poly(vinvl acetatecomethacrylic acid) VAC/MAA one sample were prepared. All the samples were used for swelling studies. High swelling occurred at above pH 5.5 through chain relaxation. It was observed that swelling to VAC/MAA was lower than VAC/AA copolymers. The lower swelling in VAC/MAA copolymer is due to the presence of hydrophobic methyl group and higher pKa value of this copolymer.