Preparation and properties of a salt‐resistant superabsorbent polymer

Crosslinked sodium polyacrylate was prepared by solution polymerization with N,N‐methylene‐bisacrylamide (bisAM) as crosslinking agent; it was subsequently surface‐crosslinked by ethylene glycol diglycidyl ether (EGDE) and then was modified with inorganic salt to obtain a superabsorbent with water absorbency in 0.9 wt % NaCl aqueous solution at atmosphere and applied pressure (P ≈ 2 × 10³ Pa) of 55 and 20 g.g^?1, respectively. Moreover, it also had excellent hydrogel strength. The effects of reaction temperature, reaction time, neutralization degree (ND) of acrylic acid, amount of initiator, crosslinking agent, and surface‐crosslinking agent, mass ratio of inorganic salt to initial superabsorbent, molar ratio of sodium aluminate (NaAlO₂) to potassium dihydrogen hyphosphate (KH₂PO₄) on water absorbency (WA) in 0.9 wt % NaCl aqueous, and the hydrogel modulus were investigated and optimized. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 93: 2532–2541, 2004