Preparation of hydrogels based on modified lignocellulosic bagasse biomass

Novel hydrogels through modification of biomass to absorbing polymer were synthesized. The main advantage of this work is using sugarcane bagasse to preparation of semi-synthetic hydrogels without any delignification (as a costly and time-consuming) stage. The hybrid hydrogels based on bagasse were prepared in two stages. First acrylic microgels were prepared through inverse emulsion polymerization (IEP). IEP was carried out for microgel preparation by use of acrylic monomers such as acrylic acid, acrylamide and 2-2-acrylamido-2- methyl propane sulfonic acid (AMPS). In second stage, the biomass of sugarcane bagasse as a source of polysaccharid was immersed in acrylic latexes. Latex with different chemical structure were synthesized through IEP. Among the used microgel latex, the poly (AA-NaAA-AM-AMPS) was the most suitable latex for the conversion of biomass into absorbing hydrogel. Modified bagasse has a water absorption up to 38.1 g/g, while the water absorption of neat bagasse is only equal to 3.6 g/g.