SYNOPSISIn this work, we performed infrared spectroscopic studies of the reaction of poly(acrylic acid) (PAA) and metal oxides (ZnO, CaO, CuO, Cr 2 O 3 , and Al 2 O 3 ). Factors such as the amount of metal oxide, reaction time, solvents, the kind of metal oxides, and temperature were also evaluated to derive the optimum condition for this reaction. The reactions of Cr 2 O 3 and Al 2 O 3 were far from complete. An extra solvent added to the reaction system could increase the solubility of PAA and metal oxide in the solution so as to completely react. The reactivity of the reaction was increased by using the hydrophilic solvent, particularly H 2 O and CH 3 OH. Moreover, the reaction rate increased when temperature decreased. The reactivity of the reaction was proportional to the pH value of the metal oxide in the aqueous solution.