Effect of aggregate size on liquid absorption characteristics of konjac glucomannan superabsorbent

Abstract

In this article, four kinds of konjac glucomannan based superabsorbent polymers (KSAPs) with different aggregate sizes were obtained by sieving the KSAP powders manually. They were characterized by scanning electronic microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and optical contact angle (OCA), and the effects of aggregate size on liquid absorption characteristics of KSAP were studied in detail. The results show that the coarse KSAP particles were aggregated by many microspheres, while the fine particles were well dispersed with 50-150 mm particle size. OCA dynamic images showed the enhanced hydrophilicity for the finer particles. The liquid absorption measurements demonstrated that water and physiological saline absorption velocity of KSAP increased for the finer particles, while their ultimate water holding capacity decreased accordingly. The liquid absorption capacity of the finest sample (75 mm) could reach its maximum value (332.5 6 5.6 g/g) in 0.5 min, while the coarsest sample (850 mm) reached the maximum value (532.5 6 1.2 g/g) in 16 min. The reason for this phenomenon was discussed, and a new model was proposed to explain it. We believe that the results of this article would be meaningful in application of KSAP as superabsorbent materials.

Preparation and characterization of water‐absorbing polyurethane foam composites with microsized sodium polyacrylate particles

“…It was deduced that the hydrophilic groups such as COO provided by the PAAS filler make a contribution to the PU foam. This was different from the results of the water absorption studies (Table ): the CA of PUF‐2.6 was the optimum among these four kinds of PAAS/PU composites, a result that might be associated with the uniform cell size and the specific surface area …”

Research Advances in Superabsorbent Polymers

“…The size of superabsorbent polymer particles has been extensively studied to increase their ultimate water absorption capacity. Yang et al found that samples with larger agglomerate sizes had higher water absorption rates, but samples with smaller aggregate sizes took less time to reach water absorption equilibrium [ 139 ]. Arpit Sand [ 140 ] studied the effect of reaction parameters on the water absorption of itaconic acid particles during the synthesis of itaconic acid by reverse suspension polymerization.…”

“…less time to reach water absorption equilibrium. [139]. Arpit Sand [140] studied the effect of reaction parameters on the water absorption of itaconic acid particles during the synthesis of itaconic acid by reverse suspension polymerization.…”