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Swelling behavior of sulfonated polyacrylamide nanocomposite hydrogels in electrolyte solutions: comparison of theoretical and experimental results

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Abstract

Nanocomposite hydrogels were prepared by cross-linking of aqueous solutions of sulfonated polyacrylamide/sodium montmorillonite with chromium triacetate as ionic cross-linker. The effect of montmorillonite content on equilibrium swelling in NaCl and CaCl2 solutions, ultimate storage modulus and effective cross-link density was evaluated. The limiting storage modulus of the nanocomposite (NC) hydrogels dropped by increasing montmorillonite content up to 1,000 ppm, and then it increased by further montmorillonite loading. A mechanism is proposed for the formation of PAMPS/Na+-MMT/Cr3+ NC hydrogels. According to this mechanism, the drop in limiting storage modulus of the NC gels at low Na+-MMT concentration is due to ionic interactions between the negative layers of sodium montmorillonite and Cr3+, leading to decreased cross-link density. However, the increase of the limiting storage modulus of the NC gels at high clay concentration results from the strong interactions between the polyacrylamide chains and clay platelets. The equilibrium swelling ratio of the NC networks decreased with increase of montmorillonite content in both aqueous NaCl and CaCl2 solutions. In addition, the experimental swelling data of these NC hydrogels were described by a modified Flory–Rehner theory. The modified model was sensitive to montmorillonite concentration and it described adequately the swelling data for NC gels in NaCl solutions. Nevertheless, theoretical predictions showed some deviations from experimental results for swelling of NC hydrogels in CaCl2 solutions.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to express their appreciation for the financial support by Research and Technology Directorate/National Iranian Oil Company.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Chemical Engineering Department, Tarbiat Modares University, PO Box: 14155-143, Tehran, Iran

    Jamal Aalaie & Ebrahim Vasheghani-Farahani

  2. Polymer Science and Technology Division, Research Institute of Petroleum Industry (RIPI), PO Box: 14665-1137, Tehran, Iran

    Jamal Aalaie

Authors
  1. Jamal Aalaie
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  2. Ebrahim Vasheghani-Farahani
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Correspondence to Ebrahim Vasheghani-Farahani.

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Aalaie, J., Vasheghani-Farahani, E. Swelling behavior of sulfonated polyacrylamide nanocomposite hydrogels in electrolyte solutions: comparison of theoretical and experimental results. Iran Polym J 21, 175–183 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13726-012-0016-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13726-012-0016-3

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