Synthesis and properties of carboxymethyl cellulose‐graft‐poly(acrylic acid‐co‐acrylamide) as a novel cellulose‐based superabsorbent

Abstract

A new cellulose-based superabsorbent polymer, carboxymethyl cellulose-graft-poly(acrylic acid-co-acrylamide), was prepared by the free-radical grafting solution polymerization of acrylic acid (AA) and acrylamide (AM) monomers onto carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) in the presence of N,N 0 -methylenebisacrylamide as a crosslinker with a redox couple of potassium persulfate and sodium metabisulfite as an initiator. The influences of reaction variables such as the initiator content, crosslinker content, bath temperature, molar ratio of AA to AM, and weight ratio of the monomers to CMC on the water absorbency of the carboxymethylcellulose-graft-poly(acrylic acid-co-acrylamide) copolymer were investigated. The copolymer's structures were characterized with Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The optimum reaction conditions were obtained as follows: the bath temperature was 508C; the molar ratio of AA to AM was 3 : 1; the mass ratio of the monomers to CMC was 4 : 1; and the weight percentages of the crosslinker and initiator with respect to the monomers were 0.75 and 1%, respectively. The maximum water absorbency of the optimized product was 920 g/ g for distilled water and 85 g/g for a 0.9 wt % aqueous NaCl solution. In addition, the superabsorbent possessed good water retention and salt resistance.

Preparation, characterization and properties of superabsorbent nanocomposites based on natural guar gum and modified rectorite

“…The utilization of low cost, annually renewable and biodegradable polysaccharides for deriving superabsorbents has offered commercial and environmental superiorities (Pourjavadi, Barzegar, & Mahdavinia, 2006;Yoshimura, Uchikoshi, Yoshiura, & Fujioka, 2005), and the incorporation of inorganic clays or their modified products has also improved the performance of the resultant materials and further reduced the production cost . Presently, the natural polysaccharides including starch (Lanthong, Nuisin, & Kiatkamjornwong, 2006;Li, Zhang, & Wang, 2007), cellulose (Suo, Qian, Yao, & Zhang, 2007), chitosan (Chen, Liu, Tan, & Jiang, 2009;Liu, Wang, & Wang, 2007b), alginate (Hua & Wang, 2009;Pourjavadi, Ghasemzadeh, & Soleyman, 2007a) and gelatin (Pourjavadi, Hosseinzadeh, & Sadeghi, 2007b) have been used for deriving superabsorbents, and the resultant materials have also shown potentials as substitutes for existing petroleum-based superabsorbent materials.…”

Nanocomposite of carboxymethyl cellulose and attapulgite as a novel pH-sensitive superabsorbent: Synthesis, characterization and properties

“…It can be easily synthesized by the alkalicatalyzed reaction of cellulose with chloroacetic acid and has been widely used as a thickening agent and stabilizing agent. The polar carboxyl groups render the cellulose soluble, chemically reactive and strongly hydrophilic, and so the application of CMC in superabsorbent fields becomes attractive and promising (Suo, Qian, Yao, & Zhang, 2007).…”

Enhanced Absorbent Products Incorporating Cellulose and Its Derivatives: A Review

“…In typical cases the latter value is less than half of the absorption capacity in the case of pure water. Especially sharp contrasts in capacity, when comparing deionized vs. saline water, have been reported in the case of superabsorbent hydrogels (Lim et al 2001;Suo et al 2007;Zhang et al 2008bZhang et al , 2009Kim and Mun 2009;Liang et al 2009;Pourjavadi et al 2008Pourjavadi et al , 2009Chang et al 2010;Bao et al 2011;Liu et al 2011;Wang et al 2011a,c,d;Wu et al 2012).…”

“…Considerable research has been devoted to the development of copolymers in which CMC is reacted with acrylic monomers and various crosslinking agents to form SAPs (Kuwabara and Kubota 1996;Pourjavadi and Mahdavinia 2005;Pourjavadi and Ghasemzadeh 2006;Abd El-Mohdy 2007;Ibrahim et al 2007;Pourjavadi et al 2007aPourjavadi et al -b, 2008Pourjavadi et al , 2009Pourjavadi et al , 2010Suo et al 2007;Ali et al 2008;Chen et al 2008;Yang et al 2009;El-Din et al 2010;Feng et al 2010a;Lin et al 2010;Bao et al 2011;Eldin et al 2011;Huang et al 2011;Liu et al 2011;Shu et al 2011;Varaprasad et al 2011;Wang et al 2011c). Water absorbency values generally in the range of 40 to 1400 g/g have been reported in such studies, with the highest value reported by Pourjavadi et al (2008).…”