Abstract

Synthesis and characterization of Gum ghatti based biopolymer superabsorbent hydrogel

Author(s): Nalin Kumar Sahu, Palapparambil Sunny Gils, Prafulla Kumar Sahoo

A novel biopolymer-based superabsorbent hydrogel (SAP) was synthesized through chemical cross-linking by graft copolymerization of acrylamide (AM) and itaconic acid (IA) onto Gumghatti (Gg) via a redox initiator system of ammonium persulfate (APS) and N, N, NÂ’, NÂ’-tetramethylethylenediamine (TMED), in the presence of N, NÂ’- methylenebisacrylamide (MBA) crosslinking agent, sodium bicarbonate foaming agent, a triblock copolymer of polyoxyethylene/ polyoxypropylene/ polyoxyethylene as a foam stabilizer. Characterization of SAP was done by FT-IR, TGA, SEM, HPLC and GCMS. The effects of pH and salinity on the swelling aptitude of the SAP were investigated alongwith its degradability in Streptococcus bovis medium.