Synthesis of lignosulfonate-acrylamide-dimethyldiallylammonium chloride copolymer and its flocculation performance

In this work, lignosulfonate-acrylamide-dimethyldiallylammonium chloride (LAD) terpolymer was designed and synthesized by microwave-assisted graft polymerization. The optimal synthetic process was obtained as follows: the monomer ratio was 1:4:4, the amount of initiator was 0.9% (w/w), the monomer solid content was 21 wt %, and the reaction time was 14 min with the microwave power of 280 W. Furthermore, the flocculation performance of LAD was verified by removing acid black-172 dye wastewater. At the LAD dosage of 350 mg L⁻¹, the maximum color removal ratio reached 99.8% in 100 mg L⁻¹ of dye wastewater. The dynamics of dye removal reached higher than 90% after 20 s. The flocculant can maintain color removal ratio more than 98% in a wide flocculant dosage and environmental pH. The flocculation mechanism was mainly electrical neutralization and bridging effect. In general, it is a promising candidate in wastewater treatment in terms of cost, synthetic method, and effectiveness. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2020 , 137, 48560.