Fabrication of superabsorbent nanofibers based on sodium polyacrylate/poly(vinyl alcohol) and their water absorption characteristics

Abstract

Superabsorbent polymers (SAPs) have been widely studied and used in various industries. In this study, SAPs based on sodium polyacrylate (NaPAA) and poly(vinyl alcohol) were successfully prepared in the form of nanofibers using the electrospinning technique. The heat‐treated superabsorbent nanofibers (SANs) with 7 wt% of NaPAA and containing both crystal structures and crosslinks presented the best absorption performance, with up to 3.9 times and 134% increase in the absorption area and swelling ratio, respectively. Furthermore, the crystal structure and crosslinking of the SANs enabled them to maintain their fiber network during water absorption and recovery. The absorption rate of SANs having both crystal structures and crosslinks was slightly lower than that of nanofibers with only crystal structures, but it was still higher than that of SAPs because of the highly porous nature of the nanowebs. The easy processing and structural stability of SANs are expected to be useful in a wide range of applications. © 2019 Society of Chemical Industry

Preparation, properties, self crosslinking mechanism, and characterization of UV initiated polyacrylic acid superabsorbent resins

“…9 At present, there are many methods to prepare polyacrylic acid (sodium) based superabsorbent hydrogels. [10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17] Among them, the synthesis by UV initiated polymerization has received considerable attention because of the short reaction time, low energy consumption., easy control of reaction process and the "5E" characteristics, that is, economical, efficient, energy saving, environment friendly of such light initiated reactions and the rapid curing, even at ambient temperatures, of the resultant materials. [18][19][20] In recent years, there have been studies on the preparation of superabsorbent resins (or hydrogels) by UV light initiation, but most of them used initiators and cross-linking agents, 14,[21][22][23] and the water absorption capacity of the prepared polymer has not been significantly improved.…”

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“…Nonwoven nanofiber mats, called nanowebs, produced by electrospinning have the potential for wide applications owing to their ultrathin scale and high surface area . Notably, a dielectric layer with a porous three‐dimensional nonwoven nanoweb structure is more deformable than film layers, which may possibly furnish a highly sensitive response to mechanical stimuli.…”

Application of Various Metal-Organic Frameworks (MOFs) as Catalysts for Air and Water Pollution Environmental Remediation

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