Polymerization of foams formed by purging with nitrogen an aqueous precursor system made up of a polymerizable surfactant, a monomer, and a cross-linking agent yielded stable polymeric foams. The precursor system for foaming contained hydrophobic components (methyl methacrylate as monomer and ethylene glycol dimethacrylate as cross-linking agent) in water and was stabilized using the polymerizable surfactant potassium acrylamidostearate. The phase-behavior study for the precursor system was conducted followed by an investigation of the stability of the foams obtained on purging with nitrogen. Sonicating the precursor systems during the process of purging with nitrogen gas followed by polymerization resulted in aqueous foams having a uniform cell size. The aqueous foams were polymerized by a free-radical mechanism using photoinitiated and thermal techniques to form stable polymeric foams. The morphology and density of the polymeric foams obtained was determined and observed to be significantly dependent on the composition of the aqueous precursor that was foamed. These results indicate the feasibility of synthesizing polymeric foams without using hydrocarbon solvents or blowing agents during polymerization. © 1993 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.