Fabrication of acrylic hydrogel incorporated with magnetic nanoparticles and its physical and thermal properties

In this research, acrylic acid based hydrogels were prepared and impregnated with magnetic nanoparticles to enhance the efficiency of the adsorption and desorption of heavy metals. Acrylic acid and itaconic acid both are short chain and possess -COOH group, therefore, they are easily copolymerized and hydrophilic in nature. The acrylic based hydrogel acts as a support to hold the magnetic nanoparticles. Hydrogels were synthesized by using acrylic acid and itaconic acid as monomers at different monomer ratios. The magnetic particles were incorporated through in situ precipitation method by immersing into 0.25 M Fe (II) and 0.5 M Fe (III) ion aqueous solutions in the molar ratio of 1:2 for metal ions loading. The swelling behaviour of the plain acylic acid hydrogel and plain acrylic acid-co-itaconic acid hydrogel that were soaked in two different water solutions such as sea water and distilled water were studied. Result shows that plain acrylic acid-co-itaconic acid hydrogel has the tendency to swell more than plain acrylic acid hydrogel. The absorption and desorption capacity of the materials were tested in 0.1 M of cobalt and lead solutions. The materials show promising results and can be used to remove pollutants from industrial effluent.