Linear-Dendritic Block Copolymer Containing Fluorescent Groups: An Effective and Environmentally Benign Inhibitor for Calcium Carbonate

Abstract

Abstract A novel fluorescent-tagged scale inhibitor, the linear-dendritic double hydrophilic block copolymer [acrylic acid (AA)/allyloxy poly(ethylene glycol) polyglycerol (APEG-PG-(OH)n)/8-allyloxy-1,3,6-pyrene trisulfonic acid trisodium salt (PA) (AA/APEG-PG-(OH)n/PA)] was synthesized by polymerisation of AA, APEG-PG-(OH)n and PA. Structures of APEG, APEG-PG-(OH)n and AA/APEG-PG-(OH)n/PA were determined by 1HNMR. The experiments show that the dosage and the n value of AA/APEG-PG-(OH)n/PA play an important role on CaCO3 inhibition. The polymer AA/APEG-PG-(OH)5/PA displays a 90% inhibition of CaCO3 precipitate formation at a dosage of 8 mg/L. The relationship between the fluorescent intensity of AA/APEG-PG-(OH)5/PA and the dosage of this polymer was studied. The correlation coefficient R of AA/APEG-PG-(OH)5/PA's is 0.9995. The effect on formation of CaCO3 was investigated with combination of XRD and SEM analysis. Finally, the significant cause and mechanism for calcium carbonate inhibition were analysed in depth.