Measuring poly(acrylamide) flocculants in fresh water using inter-polymer complex formation

Abstract

A novel detection method for poly(acrylamide) flocculants was developed using interpolymer complexation between flocculants and a probe (poly(acrylic acid-coacenaphthylene)). This detection method was tested in fresh water situations and found to be robust against a range of contaminants; additionally it was capable of detecting levels of flocculant dosing below 1 mg l -1 . This method is remarkably fast and requires little sample modification compared to existing methods of detection.

Förster Resonance Energy Transfer across interpolymer complexes of poly(acrylic acid) and poly(acrylamide)

“…The complexation is driven either by van der Waals forces to form stereocomplexes 8 , polyelectrolyte bindings between polyacids 9 , coordination complexes 10 or hydrogen bonding [11][12] . All of these have been investigated over recent years and careful polymer design can lead to new composite materials 8,13 and new applications as sensors [14][15] or delivery vehicles 11,16 . There are a variety of methods for detecting interpolymer complexes (IPC) including viscometry, conductivity measurements, NMR spectroscopy and fluorescence 9,[17][18][19] .…”

“…Poly (acrylamide) (PAM) is a commonly used synthetic polymer with a range of applications in materials processing 14 and biotechnology [51][52] . It forms strong IPCs with a range of materials, including poly(acrylic acid) (PAA).…”

“…This experiment gave information on interaction and complex formation between segments of PAA and PAM. In our previous work and application of this area we have used PAA containing an ACE label to form a highly sensitive anisotropic polarized detection system 15 for detection of ppm level concentrations of interpolymer complexation in fresh water 14 .…”

Effect of Anionic Polyacrylamide on the Structural Stability of Thickened Tailings Slurry in Pipeline Transportation

“…e addition of APAM caused the long molecular chains to affect the relative movements of tailings particles, which further affected the structural stability of the tailings slurry [19]. By calculating the standard deviations of the apparent viscosity in the shear tests, the dependence of apparent viscosity fluctuation on time, before and after addition of APAM, reflected the changes in structural stability.…”

Acrylamide in Surface and Drinking Water

“…The main advantage of the method is that it is fast, appears unaffected by the presence of dissolved organic matter, and requires no modification of the sample prior to analysis besides setting the pH and addition of the probe polymer [73]. It was tested in freshwater situations and found to be robust against a range of contaminants.…”