Methods of synthesizing vinylamine-containing polymer solutions and vinylamine-containing polymer solutions synthesized through the methods

A method of synthesizing a vinylamine-containing polymer solution, the method comprising the steps of:

• reacting a polymerization initiator, one or more N-vinylcarboxamide monomers, and optionally one or more additional vinyl monomers having a formula different from the N-vinylcarboxamide monomers, in a reaction mixture to create an intermediate polymer formulation comprising a poly(N-vinylcarboxamide) prepolymer, wherein the N-vinylcarboxamide monomers have the general formula I
• wherein R1 and R2, independently of one another, are H or C1 to C6 alkyl groups;
• hydrolyzing carboxamide groups in the poly(N-vinylcarboxamide) prepolymer to create a vinylamine-containing polymer solution comprising a vinylamine-containing polymer;
• providing a pH value associated with the reaction mixture;
• setting a value for one or more process parameters that affect dynamic viscosity of the resulting vinylamine-containing polymer solution, based on the provided pH associated with the reaction mixture;
• and
• implementing the value for the one or more process parameters during the reacting step and/or the hydrolyzing step, wherein the pH associated with the reaction mixture is changed by no more than +/−0.3 as a direct result of the implementing step.