Abstract
Various applications of superabsorbent polymers (SAP) include the use of these materials in agriculture and environmental engineering to increase soil water retention. Under such conditions, there is water absorption of the SAP in soil under load. This paper presents the results of absorbency under load (AUL) of a cross-linked copolymer of acrylamide and potassium acrylate mixed at ratios of 0.3%, 0.5% and 1.0% with coarse sand and sandy loam. The mixtures were subjected to loads equivalent to 10, 20 and 40 cm of soil. The highest differences in AUL values for both soils, compared to the control sample, were obtained after 24 hours and at a maximum load of 5.9 kPa, which corresponds to a load of a 40 cm thick topsoil layer. The AUL was 71.4 g∙g−1 for coarse sand and 52.7 g∙g−1 for sandy loam with a 1.0% SAP addition, which corresponded to 24.0% and 18.0%, respectively, of the absorption in the control sample. All the conducted tests revealed a significantly low rate of water absorbency, which is especially important for capturing the water that infiltrates into the soil profile. The results demonstrate that water absorption by SAPs decreased with the increase in SAP addition.
Highlights
superabsorbent polymers (SAP) are crosslinked polymer networks with strong hydrophilic groups that can be tailored to meet specific parameters of water absorption, depending on the composition[1,2]
The conducted research confirmed that both absorbency under load (AUL) and SAP content are important parameters that determine water absorbency by SAPs in soil medium, which in turn is reflected in the efficiency of their use in environmental engineering and agriculture
The main factors that affect water absorbency by SAPs are the depth of application and soil bulk density, which determine the influence of load on the SAP and the amount of its addition to soil
Summary
SAPs are crosslinked polymer networks with strong hydrophilic groups that can be tailored to meet specific parameters of water absorption, depending on the composition[1,2]. The external load and the swelling capability of SAPs in porous regions of the soil have a direct influence on the SAP’s water absorption capacity. The described results of absorbency under load (AUL) either include the basic parameters of synthesized SAPs or refer to their applications in personal care products[31,32,33,37]. The results of these studies do not reflect the characteristics of SAP swelling in soil and cannot be representative of applications in environmental engineering and agriculture. The objective of the study was to describe the process of SAP swelling in time in conditions similar to the actual applications in environmental engineering and agriculture
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