A hydrophobically associating polyacrylamide with double bond P (AM-MAA-AMPS-HDDE-SA) (PAMAHS) has been synthesized by micellar copolymerization technique in mixed solvents (anhydrous ethanol and distilled water (1:10 by volume)) and characterized. The morphology and microstructure of PAMAHS copolymer observations show the formation of multilayer network-like stacked structure, and the dissolution property and temperature resistance of the copolymer measurements show that PAMAHS has a good solubility and exhibits unique solution behavior. Due to the hydrophobic associations, the solution viscosity increases sharply when the polymer concentration exceeds a certain value. AFM confirms the existence of the polymer network structure in aqueous solution, and the enhancement of thermal stability of polymer is affirmed through TGA. Compared with the unmodified P (AM-MAA-AMPS-SA) (PAMAS) copolymer, PAMAHS incorporation of capsaicin-like monomer with biological activity is endowed with excellent antibacterial performance against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 56:1203-1212, 2016. (c) 2016 Society of Plastics Engineers