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Study on superabsorbent composite. VIII. Effects of acid‐ and heat‐activated attapulgite on water absorbency of polyacrylamide/attapulgite
Author(s) -
Wang Wenji,
Zhang Junping,
Chen Hao,
Wang Aiqin
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
journal of applied polymer science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.575
H-Index - 166
eISSN - 1097-4628
pISSN - 0021-8995
DOI - 10.1002/app.25452
Subject(s) - ammonium persulfate , distilled water , acrylamide , polyacrylamide , chemistry , hydrochloric acid , composite number , nuclear chemistry , chemical engineering , fourier transform infrared spectroscopy , polymerization , polymer chemistry , materials science , inorganic chemistry , polymer , chromatography , organic chemistry , composite material , copolymer , engineering
Abstract A novel superabsorbent composite, polyacrylamide/attapulgite, from acrylamide (AM) and attapulgite (APT), was prepared by free‐radical polymerization, using N,N′ ‐methylenebisacrylamide (MBA) as a crosslinker and ammonium persulfate (APS) as an initiator. The effects of hydrochloric acid (HCl) concentration, acidification time, and acidification temperature while acidifying APT and temperature and APT heat‐activation on water absorbency of the superabsorbent composite in distilled water and in 0.9 wt % NaCl solution were studied. The water absorbency first decreases with increasing the HCl concentration while acidifying APT, and then increases with further increasing the HCl concentration. Prolongation of acidification time is of benefit to the increase of water absorbency. At a given HCl concentration, water absorbency for the composite increases with increasing acidification temperature. An important increase in water absorbency was observed after incorporating heat‐activated APT into the polymeric network, reaching a maximum of 1964 g g −1 with the APT heat‐activated at 400°C. Acid‐ and heat‐activation can influence chemical composition, crystalline structure, cation exchange capacity (CEC), and specific surface area of APT according XRF, XRD, FTIR analysis, and physicochemical properties test, and then on water absorbency of corresponding PAM/APT superabsorbent composite. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 103: 2419–2424, 2007