Owing to the presence of the amide (CONH2) groups, alternating carbon atoms in the backbone are stereogenic (colloquially: chiral).

For this reason, polyacrylamide exists in atactic, syndiotactic, and isotactic forms, although this aspect is rarely discussed.

Partial hydrolysis occurs at elevated temperatures in aqueous media, converting some amide substituents to carboxylates.

The ionic forms of polyacrylamide has found an important role in the potable water treatment industry.

High viscosity aqueous solutions can be generated with low concentrations of polyacrylamide polymers, which are injected to improve the economics of conventional water-flooding.

In a separate application, hydraulic fracturing benefits from drag reduction resulting from injection of these solutions.

[3] Secondary functions are to increase plant vigor, color, appearance, rooting depth, and emergence of seeds while decreasing water requirements, diseases, erosion and maintenance expenses.

Polyacrylamide is also often used in molecular biology applications as a medium for electrophoresis of proteins and nucleic acids in a technique known as PAGE.

In 1959, the groups of Davis and Ornstein[4] and of Raymond and Weintraub[5] independently published on the use of polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis to separate charged molecules.

[5] The technique is widely accepted today, and remains a common protocol in molecular biology labs.

Acrylamide has other uses in molecular biology laboratories, including the use of linear polyacrylamide (LPA) as a carrier, which aids in the precipitation of small amounts of nucleic acids (DNA and RNA).

[9] This property makes polyacrylamide useful in the field of mechanobiology, as a number of cells respond to mechanical stimuli.