A New Sorbent Chemically Cross-linked Highly Swollen Copolymeric Hydrogels for Dye Uptake

Water uptake and the sorption properties of polyelectrolyte hydrogels made by the polymerization of acrylamide (AAm) with maleic acid (MA) were investigated as a function of composition to find materials with swelling and dye sorption properties. Highly swollen acrylamide/maleic acid (AAm/MA) hydrogels were prepared by free radical solution polymerization in aqueous solutions of AAm with MA as comonomer and two multifunctional cross-linkers such as trimethylolpropane triacrylate (TMPTA) and 1,4-butanediol dimethacrylate (BDMA). Swelling experiments were performed in water at 25°C, gravimetrically. Chemically cross-linked AAm/MA hydrogels were used in experiments on sorption of water-soluble monovalent cationic dyes such as “Nil blue” (NB) and “Methyl violet (MV)”. Weight-swelling ratio values of AAm/MA hydrogels were calculated range 8.88–61.46. Some swelling kinetic parameters were found. Diffusion behavior of water and water sorption rate constant were investigated. Water diffusion into hydrogels was found to be non-Fickian in character. For sorption of cationic dyes, NB and MV into AAm/MA hydrogels were studied by batch sorption technique at 25°C. AAm/MA hydrogels in the dye solutions showed coloration. However, the AAm hydrogel did not show sorption of any dye from solution. The amount of the dye sorbed per unit mass of AAm/MA hydrogels was investigated.