Abstract
Smart superabsorbent hydrogels consisting of acrylamide/sodium alginate (AS), acrylamide/sodium alginate/2-acrylamido-2-methylpropane sulphonic acid (ASA x , x = amount of AMPS) were synthesized via free radical polymerization. The swelling behavior of the hydrogels was studied in distilled and tap water. It was found that by increasing the amount of 2-acrylamido-2-methylpropanesulphonic (AMPS) in the hydrogel composition, the hydrogel swelling capability was enhanced from 3685% for AS to 4797% for ASA1 and 21 175% for ASA2 in distilled water, while in tap water this property varied from 915% for AS to 988% and 1588% for ASA1 and ASA2, respectively. All the samples were found to be efficient for the removal of crystal violet from aqueous solution. The absorption efficiency and % removal increased from 1.78 mg g-1 and 62.6% for AS to 3.31 mg g-1 and 75% for ASA1 and 3.34 mg g-1 and 82.1% for ASA2. The effects of pH, contact time, initial dye concentration and hydrogel dosage on the removal process were studied in detail. The mechanism of CV removal occurs according to the Freundlich isotherm following pseudo second order kinetics. The thermodynamic parameters showed that the sorption process is spontaneous and endothermic in nature. The superabsorbent hydrogels were regenerated and reused in six consecutive cycles with 5% decrease in efficiency.