USE OF FLUORESCENCE TO STUDY INVERSE MICROEMULSION POLYMERIZATION OF ACRYLAMIDE

Steady-state fluorescence was used to study the polymerization of acrylamide (AAM) in inverse microemulsions comprising water/bis(2-(ethylhexyl)sodium sulfosuccinate (AOT)/toluene in order to investigate the AAM depletion from various loci of microemulsion in the process of polymerization. AAM has the role of both reactive monomer and cosurfactant in this microemulsion, and also acts as a quencher for the indole fluorescent probes: 1,2-dimethylindole, indole and L-tryptophan. These were selectively placed within various loci of the microemulsion (toluene, interphase and water phase), enabling us to follow the depletion of AAM by monitoring the fluorescence of each probe during polymerization. The obtained results show a monotonic decrease of the AAM concentration regardless of the probe localization in the microemulsion polymerization system.