Influence of Polymer Architecture on the Stabilization of Iron and Manganese Ions in Aqueous Systems

Abstract

Abstract The influence of polymers as stabilizing additives for iron and manganese ions was investigated in an aqueous system. The polymers tested include: homo-polymers of acrylic acid, maleic acid, methacrylic acid, 2-acrylamido-2-methylpropane sulfonic acid; co-polymer of acrylic acid: vinyl acetate, acrylic acid: hydroxypropyl acrylate, acrylic acid: carbitol acrylate, acrylic acid: 2-acrylamido-2-methylpropane sulfonic acid; and ter-polymer of acrylic acid: methacrylic acid: acrylic acid: acrylic acid: 2-acrylamido-2-methylpropane sulfonic acid: sulfonated styrene, acrylic acid: 2-acrylamido: t-butylacrylamide. It was found that polymer architecture i. e., monomer type, monomer charge, molecular weight, and polymerization solvent, strongly influences the performance of polymer as iron and manganese ions stabilizing additives. The stabilization data reveal the following order in terms of decreasing polymer performance: ter-polymer > co-polymer > homo-polymer.