Synthesis and Properties of Superabsorbent Hygroscopic Materials Based on Polyacrylamide and Poly(2-acrylamido-2-methyl Propyl Sulfonic Acid) Co-polymer

Polyacrylamide and poly(2-acrylamido-2-methyl propyl sulfonic acid) co-polymer[short as P(AM-co-AMPS)] superabsorbent materials were synthesized using 2-acrylamido-2-methyl propyl sulfonic acid and acrylamide as monomers, and P(AM-co-AMPS)/SiO2 hybrid superabsorbent materials were prepared using P(AM-co-AMPS) as the organic phase and SiO2 as the inorganic phase. The absorbent properties of these two kinds of superabsorbent materials were investigated. Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR) and scanning electron microscopes (SEM) were used to characterize these two kinds of superabsorbent materials. The result shows that the SiO2 can disperse in P(AM-co-AMPS) polymer networks homogeneously. The water-absorbent ability of P(AM-co-AMPS)/SiO2 and P(AM-co-AMPS) is similar, but P(AM-co-AMPS)/SiO2 exhibits better acid, base, salt, organic solvents, and temperature tolerance than the P(AM-co-AMPS) dose. In addition, the swelling speed of P(AM-co-AMPS)/SiO2 is larger than that of P(AM-co-AMPS).