Highly absorbent polymers capable of trapping large volumes of organic liquids are attractive materials for cleaning up toxic chemical spills. Here we report development of a homopolymer network using N-butyl-N-phenylacrylamide with poly(ethylene glycol) dimethacrylate as the cross-linker, that absorbs a variety of organic liquids by swelling. The nonelectrolytic basis of this polymer allows it to be used in areas where organic liquids and water coexist in the form of an emulsion. We demonstrate that this new polymer swells up to 20× in nonpolar organic liquids and up to 33× in more polar organic liquids but has negligible swelling in water. Consequently, this novel selectively superabsorbent polymer has potential use in a broad range of applications to capture and remove hazardous materials.
The occasional use of chemical warfare agents (CWAs) by rogue states in current conflicts provides a reminder that these hazards are a real threat. Although hazmat suits made of fully impermeable barrier materials provide an effective means of protecting against CWAs, they also inhibit evaporative cooling which can cause rapid hyperthermia. This conundrum has motivated a search for novel materials that allow water vapor but not CWA permeation. Here we show that, at least for aerosolized CWA, this can also be achieved using a highly breathable composite fabric that self-seals only when exposed to target chemicals. Our approach is based on the use of selectively superabsorbing polymer (SAP) microbeads that are dispersed on a highly breathable fabric. Many CWAs, especially nerve and blistering agents, have low vapor pressure and can only be dispersed as a “fog” from aerosolization. We show that upon contact with an example organic aerosol (o-xylene) the proposed SAP microbeads dispersed on a nylon mesh swell highly, seal pores, and inhibit passage of the microdroplets. In contrast, in normal conditions the SAP microbeads do not absorb or swell upon contactwith water and provide over 10 kg m−2 day−1 water permeation rate that is comparable to a cotton shirt. Figure 1
The persistent use of chemical warfare agents (CWAs) by rogue states in current conflicts provides a reminder that these hazards remain a real threat. Although hazmat suits made of fully impermeable barrier materials provide an effective means of protecting against CWAs, they also inhibit evaporative cooling which can cause rapid hyperthermia. This conundrum has motivated a search for novel materials that allow water vapor but not CWA permeation. Here we show that, at least for aerosolized CWA, this can be achieved using a highly breathable composite fabric that self-seals only when exposed to target chemicals. Our approach is based on the use of selectively superabsorbing polymer (SAP) microbeads that are dispersed on a highly breathable fabric. Many CWAs, especially nerve and blistering agents, have low vapor pressure and are typically dispersed as a "fog" via aerosolization. We show that upon contact with an example organic aerosol (o-xylene) the proposed SAP microbeads dispersed on a nylon mesh rapidly swell, seal pores in the material, and inhibit passage of the microdroplets. In contrast, the SAP microbeads do not swell on contact with water and provide a water vapor permeation rate of over 10 kg m −2 day −1 , comparable to a cotton shirt.
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