• Elastomers and Composites
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• v.55 no.4
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• pp.249-256
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• 2020

Superabsorbent polymers (SAPs) can absorb and retain ten to thousand times their dry mass of water because of their three-dimensional hydrophilic structures. Conventional SAPs are mainly composed of poly(acrylic acid sodium salt) derived from petrochemicals. The present work is aimed at limiting the use of the petrochemical component by replacing it with a biomass-based material. First, the core-SAP was prepared via the terpolymerization of itaconic acid, vinylsulfonic acid, and cellulose, and the optimum conditions in terms of material input ratio were determined. Following this, the core-SAP was surface-crosslinked by esterification with butane diol to improve its liquid permeability and absorbency under load (AUL). The liquid permeability was measured according to the amount of 0.9 wt.% NaCl solution passing between the swollen SAP particles under a given pressure, and the AUL was estimated from the weight of this solution absorbed under 0.3 psi pressure.

• Fibers and Polymers
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.95-104
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• 2004

A series of superabsorbents based on acrylic acid (AA), sodium acrylate, 2-acrylamido-2-methylpropane sulphonic acid, N,N'-methylene bis-acrylamide (MBA) were prepared by inverse suspension polymerization. These hydrogels were further crosslinked on the surface with polyethylene glycol-600 (PEG-600). The water absorbency or swelling behaviors for these xerogels in water and 0.9% saline solutions, both under free condition and under load were investigated. Absorption characteristics of these hydrogels were found to depend on nature and concentration of crosslinker in the system. It was also found that the saline absorption was significantly improved as the incorporation of AMPS in the polymer was increased. The surface crosslinking introduced in the polymers was found to improve the absorption under load characteristics without lowering the free water absorption capacities of the polymer to a considerable extent.

• Elastomers and Composites
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• v.54 no.3
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• pp.232-240
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• 2019

A superabsorbent hydrogel (SAH) can absorb and retain water weighing more than a hundred times of their dry weight because of their three-dimensional hydrophilic structure. To fabricate an SAH, itaconic acid (IA) and vinyl sulfonic acid (VSA) were subjected to radical polymerization in an aqueous solution, wherein IA and VSA were neutralized, and then, a crosslinker and a thermal initiator were added in sequence. The structure of poly(IA-co-VSA) was characterized using attenuated total reflectance Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy. We also studied the changes in the absorption properties of the SAH composites according to the polymerization temperature, degree of neutralization, type and content of the initiator used, and type and content of the crosslinker used. Thus, we could determine the effects of some synthetic factors on the absorption properties of the SAH.