This research is focused on the synthesis and the ability to inhibit scale and corrosion of poly(acrylic acid-co-acrylamide) (PAA-AM copolymers). A series of polymers were synthesized by free radical polymerization having various weight ratios of acrylic acid (AA) to acrylamide (AM). The structures of the synthesized polymers were characterized by UV-Vis Spectroscopy, FT-IR, and 1H-NMR. The thermal stability of the polymers was analyzed by a TGA technique. The water solubility of the polymers was examined using a turbidity meter. The scale inhibition performance test was performed by titration of calcium ion with ethylene diamine tetraacetic acid (EDTA) solution. After that, the crystal structure of CaCO3 scale from the scale inhibition test was examined using a scanning electron microscope. The efficiency of the corrosion inhibitor on low carbon steel AISI 1018 was investigated by a potentiodynamic polarization technique. The result show that PAA-AM copolymers having a 9:1 weight ratio with 45.82% at 100 ppm inhibited scale forming. The corrosion resistance of all inhibitors could be achieved when the concentration of the inhibitor was lower than 100 ppm.

Carboxylated polymer can be used as an anti-scaling agent in circulating water cooling systems. Poly(acrylic acid) and homopolymer have some drawbacks such as slight solubility in water and low calcium tolerance leading difficulty to determine the remaining quantity of polymer in water. This research is mainly focused on synthesis and ability of poly(acrylic acid-co-2-acrylamido-2-methylpropane sulfonic acid) (PAA-PAMPS) for scale inhibition. These terpolymers varied in mole ratios of monomers were prepared via solution polymerization. The obtained polymers are then characterized by FT-IR, 1H-NMR, TGA, turbidity, and UV-visible spectroscopy. For a scale inhibition test, GB/T 16632-2008 standard is applied. The scale inhibition efficiency for 100% was found in PAA-PAMPS copolymer (7:3). Afterwards this polymer was chosen for synthesizing an ultraviolet-tagged PAA-PAMPS-PNaSS terpolymer. UV-visible spectroscopy was used to monitor benzene sulfonate structure in sodium styrene sulfonate of the polymer chain at 224 nm.