Saline solution absorbency and structure study of poly (AA-AM) water superabsorbent by inverse microemulsion polymerization

Abstract

A series of novel copolymer superabsorbents based on acrylamide (AM), acrylic acid(AA) were prepared by inverse microemulsion copolymerization using ammonium persulfate (APS) as the initiator and N,N-methylenebisacrylamide (MBA) as the crosslinking agent and OP-10 and SDS as complex surfactants. The synthetic variables (amount of crosslinking agent and initiator, water/oil ratio, monomer/surfactant ratio and AA/ Am ratio) and their effects on the absorbencies of the synthesized superabsorbents were investigated. The experimental results of superabsorbent polymers (SAPs) showed the maximum saline solution absorbency of 130 g/g within 75 min, and the saline solution absorbency of 111 g/g within 30 min. FTIR indicated the structure of the acrylic acid and acrylamide copolymer. SEM indicated that the particles prepared with higher crosslinker content (0.03%) showed smaller pore sizes and less porous structures compared with those with less crosslinker content (0.01%) and the number of the micropores largely decreased with the water/oil ratio increasing from 8% to 14%.