Abstract

In order to develop an eco-friendly polymer, a novel superabsorbent polymer was synthesized by grafting the alkaline hydrolysis product of leather waste (LW) to a copolymer of acrylic acid (AA) and acrylamide (AM)(PLW-g-(AA-co-AM))with microwave method assistance. The morphology of the samples was examined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Through a single factor experiment, various factors were explored which may affect the water absorption of such a superabsorbent polymer during preparation. The results showed that the optimum technological conditions of synthesizing PLW-g-(AA-co-AM) were: dosage of LW15wt.% of total monomer mass, cross-linking agent 0.06wt.% of monomer mass, neutralization degree 75%, AA: AM= 6 :1, initiator 0.6wt.% of monomer mass. According to this procedure, the PLW-g-(AA-co-AM) with a water-absorbency of 1191.5g/g and saltabsorbency of 94.4g/g was obtained. The product was used as adsorbant for urea, the urea load rate reached 87.76% when the concentration of urea was 10g/L. Meanwhile, the release of urea from the loaded PLW-g-(AA-co-AM) in deionized water exhibited specific release properties.