Preparation of anti-leakage and salt-isolation absorbent polymer based on tragacanth gum

Superabsorbent polymers can be used to alleviate water scarcity and improve soil salinization. In this study, a superabsorbent polymer TG-g-PAA /BTCA was prepared by grafting acrylic acid to tragacanth gum (TG) with 1,2,3, 4-butane tetracarboxylic acid (BTCA) as crosslinking agent. The polymer can also effectively improve fertilizer utilization and reduce soil surface salinity. The polymers that exhibited optimum water absorption have been characterized by infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy and thermogravimetric analysis. Under optimum synthesis conditions, the maximum equilibrium absorption of TG-g-PAA/BTCA was 1341 g/g, 137 g/g, 72 g/g in deionized water, tap water and 0.9 wt% NaCl solution respectively. In addition, the anti-leakage and salt-isolation properties of TG-g-PAA/BTCA were investigated. The results showed that the addition of 0.6 % TG-g-PAA/BTCA improved the anti-leakage performance by 73.6 %. In addition, 0.4 % TG-g-PAA/BTCA effectively prevented the upward migration of salt ions. The interaction of polymers with functional groups in lateritic soils allows the polymers to adsorb on the surface of soil particles, thus forming soil aggregates, which reduces the permeability of water. The findings of this study can serve as the basis for effective application in agriculture.