Synthesis of Allyl Pentaerythritol Crosslinker based Polymer Hydrogels and Determination of the Crosslink Density

In this study, we report the synthesis and characterization of polymer hydrogels. The polymer gels have been prepared from acrylic acid (AA) monomer using allyl pentaerythritol as the crosslinker in the presence of potassium persulfate initiator. The synthesized polymer gels have been characterized by Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy. The swelling capacity and crosslink density of the synthesized polymer gels have been determined and it was found that some of the polymer samples behave like super-absorbent polymers. These polymeric-gels can be utilized in various applications viz. as a catalyst for dye removal, for anion removal from water and for heavy metal removal etc.