Microwave-Irradiated Preparation of Super Absorbent Resin by Graft Copolymerization of Starch and Acrylic Acid

Abstract

Graft copolymerization of acrylic acid(AA) on starch to prepare super absorbent resin (SAR) under microwave irradiation were investigated using N,N-methylene bis-acrylamide as crosslinker and potassium persulfate as initiator. The influences of the amount of initiator and crosslinker, neutralization degree of acrylic acid(AA), ratio of starch to AA, microwave power level and irradiation time on the distilled water absorption amount of resin were investigated. The results indicated that it only needed 4min under the microwave level of 231W to obtain the resin with the maximum absorption amount of 1110g×g-1, under the conditions that 0.3wt% initiator, 0.02wt% crosslinker, 60% neutralization degree of acrylic acid, the ratio of starch to acrylic acid of 0.25. Under microwave irradiation, the synthesis and drying of super absorbent resin could be completed at one step without nitrogen. Compared to conventional heating method, the methods had the striking advantages of short reaction time, simple process and low cost.