Influence of the diameter of a tubular reactor and the direction of front propagation on the process of frontal copolymerization of acrylamide with sodium acrylate in aqueous solutions

The objects of study were the process of frontal copolymerization of acrylamide with sodium acrylate in aqueous solutions in tubular reactors of various diameters and with different directions of front propagation, as well as the resulting copolymers and hydrogels. The effect of the diameter of a tubular reactor and the direction of front propagation on the process of frontal copolymerization of acrylamide and sodium acrylate in aqueous solutions has been studied. It was shown that the front velocity is almost independent of the diameter of the tubular reactor, and the front temperature decreases with increasing diameter. The values of water absorption and gel-fraction of the obtained hydrogels were determined.