Aqueous Polymerization of Acrylonitrile with Cerium(IV)‐ p ‐Hydroxyacetophenone Redox System

Aqueous polymerization of acrylonitrile initiated by Ce(IV)/ p ‐hydroxy acetophenone (Ce(IV) – HAP) was studied in aqueous solution of sulfuric acid at 40 ° C. The rate of polymerization was investigated at various concentrations of monomer, initiator, activator, sulfuric acid and the effect of temperature of 30‐70 ° C range was studied. The rate of polymerization is governed by the expression Rp = Kp [M] 1.44 [Ce(IV)] 0.55 [HAP] 0.51 . The activation energy of polymerization was found to be 17.9 kJ/mol. A probable mechanism consistent with the observed results is proposed and discussed.