Synthesis of a Starch-based Hydrogel: Effect of Crosslinker on Swelling and Heavy Metal Adsorption

In this study, ammonium persulfate was used to initiate the graft copolymerization reaction of methacrylic acid and itaconic acid onto starch. The effect of different parameters on grafting efficiency was investigated. The so obtained St-co-MMA/IA with the highest graft efficiency, was crosslinked by N,N-methylene bisacrylamide (MBA), glutaraldehyde (GLA), ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (EGDMA) and buthylene glycol dimethacrylate (BGDMA) individually using different amounts of crosslinker agents. The synthesized hydrogels were characterized by swelling studies, field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The crosslinked hydrogels were used for the removal of the heavy elements Pb۲+, Fe۲+ and Co۲+ from its aqueous solution by adsorption. It was experimentally confirmed the metal uptake, obtaining the higher adsorption capacity (qe = ۳۴.۸۱ mg/g) for the product prepared with BGDMA crosslinker.

کلیدواژه ها:

Graft copolymer ، Crosslinking ، Hydrogel ، heavy metals