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Hydrogels for water filters: Characterization and regeneration
Author(s) -
Ahmed Abd ElShafey I.
Publication year - 2011
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.34679
Subject(s) - self healing hydrogels , absorbance , hexamethylenetetramine , chemistry , staphylococcus aureus , nuclear chemistry , chromatography , polymer chemistry , bacteria , organic chemistry , biology , genetics
Acrylic acid was crosslinked with N , N ′‐methylenebisacrylamide followed by a reaction with hexamethylenetetramine (HMTA) to form a new hydrogel, Gel ( 2 ). Water absorbance rate and retention of Gel ( 2 ) were characterized. At the same time, factors affecting absorbance rate such as pH, temperature, and ions concentration were studied. The rate decreased with decreasing pH and increasing ions concentration, whereas increased with raising temperature. The effect of the hydrogel on bacterial ( Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli ) viability and growth rate was determined. Gel ( 2 ) has achieved a 5 log reduction on both E. coli and S. aureus in 2 h while no cells were detected after 3 h in case of S. aureus and 4 h in case of E. coli . Lifetime and regeneration of Gel ( 2 ) using both stirred flask and column (a model for a water filter) methods were determined. Identifying the lifetime using columns showed that the gel stays active up to 5 and 7 runs for both E. coli and S. aureus respectively. In addition, it was recycled successfully up to 10 times, using column and stirred flask methods, against both types of bacteria. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2012