Polyacrylate graft polymers prepared by grafting of monomethoxypoly(ethylene oxide) homopolymers onto acrylic acid: Self‐gelling polymers

Polyacrylates of monomethoxypoly(ethylene oxide) Systematic name for MePEO: α‐hydro‐ω‐methoxypoly(oxyethylene). (MePEO) were prepared by grafting MePEO on prepolymerized acryloyl chloride polymers of different molecular weights. Copolymers with carboxyl groups were also prepared by the addition of both water and MePEO. The polymers spontaneously form irreversible gels in water as soon as the degree of polymerization exceeds a certain limit. This gel formation confirms preceding results on similar polymers obtained by polymerization of MePEO acrylate and methacrylate macromonomers. It is concluded that the gelification phenomenon is not due to chemical cross‐linking but rather to the presence of a high density of strongly interacting grafts of PEO on the polymer backbone. This new type of self‐gelling system is considered to be of special interest.