HYDROGEL BASED ON STARCH, ACRYLAMIDE AND KAOLINE

Abstract

The reduction of water resources in Central Asia forces agriculture to switch to water-saving technologies in the future. One of the ways of rational use of water resources is the use of highly swelling polymer hydrogels (HSP). A hydrogel based on starch, acrylamide, and kaolin was obtained based on a radical copolymerization reaction. In these studies, a superabsorbent composite was synthesized, obtained by the reaction of grafted copolymerization of acrylamide and potato starch in a ratio of 2:1, based on starch, acrylamide, and kaolin. Studies have shown that a superabsorbent composite with the best properties was obtained using 1 wt. % potassium persulfate, 0.8 wt. % methylene bisacrylamide and 2 wt. % aqueous kaolin solution. The rate of swelling of the hydrogel was determined, and it was shown that the moisture absorption of the hydrogel reached 890 g. This proposed method of producing super absorbent composites using natural resources such as starch, and kaolin, of course, reduces the cost of production and also makes the material environmentally friendly.