Development of Radiation Grafted Super Absorbent Polymers for Agricultural Applications

Super Absorbent Polymers (SAPs) were prepared by radiation grafting polymerization of neutralized Acrylic Acid (AA) on to two cellulose samples separately from bagasse, which were extracted from alkaline hydrogen peroxide and microwave assisted alkaline pretreatments in the presence of N.N-methylenebisacrylamide (MBA) as a cross linker using mutual grafting by applying gamma radiation under an environment of nitrogen gas. Characteristics of grafting, morphological and soil degradation of developed SAPs were identified by using Fourier Transform Infra-Red Spectrometer (FT-IR), Scanning Electronic Microscope (SEM) and soil burial method respectively. Additionally, water absorbency in distilled water and prepared fertilizer solutions were measured. Further, different agricultural practices implemented for survival of transplanted seedlings of Capsicum annuum, cultivation of Ipomoea aquatica and survival of cut Chrysanthemum instagram flowers were evaluated. The results indicated that developed SAPs had cross-linked cellulose-g-PAA(Na) and PAA(Na) with water absorbency ratios that were 236-325 in distilled water. Cross-linked cellulose-g-PAA(Na) had highly porous morphological structure, good degradability in soil compared to PAA(Na) and expected to be useful for survival of transplanted seedlings, cut flowers and cultivation of crops under limited supply of water.