The determination of acrylamide in polyelectrolytes by extraction and gas-chromatographic analysis

Abstract

A method is described for the quantitative extraction of acrylamide from water-treatment grade acrylamide polymers and copolymers. The extraction is performed by shaking the polymer with methanol-water (80 + 20) for 24 hours. An improved gas-chromatographic method has been developed for analysing these extracts and can be conveniently used at levels down to 0·0004 per cent. of acrylamide in polymer; 0·05 per cent. of acrylamide in polymer can be determined with a relative standard deviation of ± 4 per cent.Only two of the polymers tested contained materials that interfered in the gas-chromatographic determination. A thin-layer chromatographic clean-up technique is described, which enables these polymers to be analysed by gas chromatography with no interference.