POLYMER–PLASTICS TECHNOLOGY AND ENGINEERING Vol. 43, No. 3, pp. 731–743, 2004 Oxidative Polymerization of Methyl Methacrylate in Acid-Aqueous Medium Cemal O ¨ zerog˘ lu 1, * and Tuncer Yalc¸ınyuva 2 1 Department of Chemistry and 2 Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, _ Istanbul University, _ Istanbul, Turkey ABSTRACT The polymerization of methyl methacrylate monomer initiated by l-methionine-Ce(IV) sulfate redox system in an acid-aqueous medium was investigated. Partially cross-linked methyl methacrylate polymers with limited solubility in known solvents were obtained. The depen- dence of polymerization yields on the mole ratio of l-methionine to cerium(IV) sulfate and methyl methacrylate monomer to cerium(IV) sulfate (n Ce(IV) ¼ n Meth ), polymerization time, acid concentration, temperature, and amount of solvent (acetone and methanol) was investigated. The results of infrared, thermal gravimetric analysis, differantial scanning calorimetry measurements to indicate the thermal oxidative properties of obtained polymers also are given. The possible mechanism for the polymerization reaction is discussed. *Correspondence: Cemal O ¨ zerog˘ lu, Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Engineering, _ Istanbul University, 34320 Avcılar- _ Istanbul, Turkey; Fax: þ90 212 591 19 97; E-mail: ozeroglu@istanbul.edu.tr. 731 DOI: 10.1081/PPT-120038062 0360-2559 (Print); 1525-6111 (Online) Copyright & 2004 by Marcel Dekker, Inc. www.dekker.com