Synthesis, characterization and swelling behavior of silver nanoparticles containing superabsorbent based on grafted copolymer of polyacrylic acid/ Guar gum

Silver nanoparticles containing superabsorbent nanocomposite based on grafted copolymer of Guar gum/polyacrylic acid (GG/Poly(AA)) have been are synthesized by two step free radical graft copolymerization using ammonium persulphate (APS) as initiator and N, N′-methylenebisacrylamide (MBA) as cross-linking agent. The synthesized nanocomposite superabsorbent is characterized using various analytical techniques, such as, ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy, Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffractometry, Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy, Energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and thermal gravimetric analysis. The UV-vis, EDX and XRD studies revealed that silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) are successfully incorporated inside the polymer of GG/Poly(AA). The grafted crosslinking of backbone guar gum with acrylic acid and incorporation of silver nanoparticles are confirmed from the FTIR spectrogram. In addition to this, effect of several synthesis parameters, such as, concentration of guar gum, concentration of monomer, initiator and cross-linker are also studied. Furthermore, under optimized reactions conditions the influence of several parameters like pH, temperature and time on swelling behavior of superabsorbent nanocomposite is studied in double deionized water and found to be 1700%. The swelling behavior of nanocomposite has been also inspected in various saline solutions. It is evident that the AgNPs/GG/Poly(AA) nanocomposite superabsorbent may be used for water absorption purpose in many applications.