AMPS is the copolymer of acrylic acid and 2-acrylanmido-2-methylpropanesulfonic acid. Due to including carboxylic group (scale inhibition and dispersion) and sulfonic acid group (strong polarity) in this copolymer, AMPS has high calcium tolerance and good scale inhibition for calcium phosphate, calcium carbonate and zinc scale. When built with organophosphines, the synergic effect is obvious.AMPS is suitable to be used in water quality of high pH and high alkaline, it is one of the ideal scale inhibitor and dispersant on high concentration index.

Water treatment applications: The cation stability of the AMPS-containing polymers are very useful for water treatment processes. Such polymers with low molecular weights cannot only inhibit calcium, magnesium, and silica scale in cooling towers and boilers, but also help corrosion control by dispersing iron oxide. When high molecular weight polymers are used, they can be used to precipitate solids in the treatment of industrial effluent stream.