Superabsorbent polymeric materials. II. Swelling behavior of crosslinked poly[sodium acrylate-co-3-dimethyl(methacryloyloxyethyl) ammonium propane sulfonate] in aqueous salt solution

A series of xerogels based on sodium acrylate (SA), 3-dimethyl (methacryloyloxyethyl) ammonium propane sulfonate (DMAPS), and N,N′-methylene-bis-acrylamide (NMBA) are prepared by inverse suspension polymerization. The water absorbencies or swelling behaviors for these xerogels in water or various saline solutions respectively exhibit a value of 1435 g H₂O/g sample and 96 g H₂O/g sample of deionized water and 0.9 wt % NaCl solution at a gel containing 1.88 × 10⁻³ molar ratio of DMAPS while the extent of 1.53 × 10⁻³ molar ratio (0.25 wt % based on total monomer) of NMBA was used in the polymerization. The absorbency in the chloride salt solutions decreases with an increase in the ionic strength of salt. For the same ionic strength of various salt solutions, the swelling amount has the following tendency: Na⁺ > Fe³⁺ > A1³⁺ > Ca²⁺ for the higher ionic strength of 5 × 10⁻³ −2 × 10⁻²M and Na⁺ > Fe³⁺ > Ca²⁺ > A1³⁺ for the lower ionic strength of < 2 × 10⁻⁴M. The bound water found by DSC investigation is approximately equal to 2 g H₂O/g sample. The pH effect and thermal effect on the water absorbency for these xerogels are also investigated. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 64: 1701–1712, 1997