Some hydrogels can adsorb harmful heavy-metal ions, of which the property can be usable for purifying wastewater. One of the difficult problems for such a practical use is a slow rate of swelling process due to slow diffusion of the solvents in the hydrogels. In this circumstance, the authors have observed the swelling behaviors and SAXS profiles of the po/y(acrylamide-co-sodium acrylate) gels after having soaked in several respective organic solvents for a while; they have found a considerable increase in the swelling rate as well as the swelling ratio in the gels and a definite peak in their SAXS profile.
The authors have investigated the swelling behaviors of several P AAm hydro gels which are synthesized at several temperatures and with some concentrations of N,N,N ,N-tetramethylethylendiamine (TEMED), because the gels' swelling degrees are deeply related to their network structures determined by the reaction fashions in their synthesis processes and because the heavy metal adsorption functionalities of their ionized homologues, which is important for the application for purifying environments, seem affected considerably by the swelling ratios. By the investigation in the present study, it has been revealed that the swelling degree of the P AAm gel in these conditions have received considerable effects by the TEMED concentration and synthesis temperature.
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