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Published on: February 12, 2019
Effective adsorption of methylene blue by biodegradable superabsorbent cassava starch-based hydrogel
Kanda Junlapong1, Pattarawadee Maijan1, Chiraphon Chaibundit1
1Department of Materials Science and Technology, Faculty of Science, Prince of Songkla University, Hat Yai, Songkhla, Thailand, 90110.
Abstract:
Superabsorbent hydrogels were synthesized from cassava starch (CS) and polyacrylamide (PAM) via radical polymerization. Scanning electron microscope revealed the porous structure of the hydrogels. Pore size was smaller at higher CS contents. Hydrogel containing 50 wt% CS (CS50) showed excellent water absorbency of >8000%, which was much greater than that of CS0 (pure PAM) hydrogel. This CS50 hydrogel removed >85% of methylene blue (MB) in <10 h with the greatest adsorption capacity of 2000 mg MB/g. The experimental results fitted the Freundlich and pseudo-second order models. After 4 cycles of use, the hydrogel could still remove >50% of MB in solution. Interestingly, the hydrogels were photodegradable and biodegradable. Buried in soil, the CS50 hydrogel was 80% degraded within 30 days whereas pure PAM was only 22% degraded.
