A superabsorbent polymer (SAP) is a special polymer material that can absorb up to 500 times its own weight of pure water, but has a problem that it does not biodegrade itself and cause environmental pollution. Therefore, we aim to prepare a biodegradable SAP by using biomass-based IA. The SAP must be able to retain absorbed water and absorb water under a given pressure. We have carried out studies to improve the surface hardness of the SAP to enhance absorption of water under a given pressure by surface-crosslinking. Four types of surface-crosslinkers, ethylene glycol diglycidyl ether (EGDGE), ethylene carbonate (EC), 1,4-butanediol (BD), or glycerol, were used. We confirmed the water absorption capacity of the SAP by measuring its centrifuge retention capacity (CRC) and absorbency under load (AUL). The structural characteristics of the SAP were confirmed by attenuated total reflection (ATR) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and the surface characteristics were confirmed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM).

The methoxy-type silane coupling agents were synthesized via the modification of the hydrolyzable group and characterized to investigate the change in properties of silica/rubber composites based on the different silane coupling agent structures and the masterbatch fabrication methods. The prepared methoxy-type silane coupling agents exhibited higher reactivity towards hydrolysis compared to the conventional ethoxy-type one which led to the superior silanization to the silica filler surface modified for the reinforcement of styrene-butadiene rubber. The silica/rubber composites based on these methoxy-type silane coupling agents had the characteristics of more developed vulcanization and mechanical properties when fabricated as masterbatch products for tread materials of automobile tire surfaces. In particular, the dimethoxy-type silane coupling agent showed more enhanced rubber composite properties than the trimethoxy-type one, and the environmentally friendly wet masterbatch fabrication process was successfully optimized. The reactivity of the synthesized silane coupling agents toward hydrolysis was investigated by FITR spectroscopic analysis, and the mechanical properties of the prepared silica-reinforced rubber polymers were characterized using a moving die rheometer and a universal testing machine.

Itaconic acid‐vinyl sulfonic acid based super absorbent polymer (SAP) was synthesized by aqueous solution polymerization using ammonium persulfate as the initiator, tetra (ethylene glycol) diacrylate as the internal crosslinking agent, and sodium hydroxide as the neutralizing agent. Surface‐crosslinking was introduced to improve the low absorbency under load of the itaconic acid‐based SAP. Hollow glass microspheres were added during surface‐crosslinking to improve the absorption properties and permeability of the SAP. Hollow glass microspheres increased the specific surface area of SAP and acted as an incompressible filler resulting in the improvement of gel strength and the relief of gel blocking by preventing adhesion between SAP particles. The surface‐crosslinked SAP with 2 wt% hollow glass microspheres showed the highest permeability and absorbency under load. The absorption rate of the synthesized material was also increased.

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