Study on preparation and properties of environmentally-friendly dust suppressant with semi-interpenetrating network structure

In order to solve the coal dust pollution generated by open-pit mines, a novel environmentally-friendly poly(vinyl alcohol)/sodium alginate (SA)/glycerol (PVA/SA/GLY) composite dust suppressant was obtained by a simple method in this paper. The formulation of dust suppressant was determined through the orthogonal and single-factor tests. Its properties (viscosity, compressive strength, wetting property, resistance to evaporation and biodegradability) were investigated. The test results indicate that at a temperature of 55 °C, when the masses of PVA, SA, GLY, STMP (as a crosslinking agent) and SDS, APG were 5.5 g, 0.45 g, 4.5 g, 0.12 g, 0.6g and 0.1g respectively, the viscosity (includes 0.6 g SDBS + 0.1 g APG) of the prepared copolymer was 76 mPa s and the compressive strength of cured film of dust suppressant reached up to 26.1 kPa. Compared with water as a dust suppressant (control group), the dust suppressant reported in this paper has good wettability and resistance to evaporation. After the 8th cycle (56 d), the percent of degradation of the dust suppressant pre-buried into the soil was 33%. The dust suppressant in this study has good wetting, moisture retention and degradation performance, which can bring significant economic and social environmental benefits to the field of coal dust control.