Preparation and Properties of Polyacrylamide/Sodium Alginate Hydrogel and the Effect of Fe^(3+)Adsorption on Its Mechanical Performance

The preparation and application of functional hydrogels based on natural polysaccharides have always been a hot research topic.In this study,using acrylamide(AM)monomer,N,N'-methylene bisacrylamide(MBA)as crosslinking agent,potassium persulfate(K2S2O8)as initiator,in the presence of natural polysaccharide sodium alginate(SA),the PAM/SA hydrogel was prepared by free radical polymerization.Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy(FT-IR),swelling performance tests,scanning electron microscope(SEM),thermogravimetric analysis(TGA),UV-visible spectrophotometer,mechanical property measurements were carried out to analyze the composition,morphology,and performance of the hydrogels.The swelling behavior,dye adsorption performance,and the mechanical properties of PAM/SA hydrogels before and after Fe^(3+)adsorption were studied.The experimental results showed that the introduction of SA with 4.7%,7.8%,and 10.3%effectively improved the mechanical and dye adsorption properties of PAM composite hydrogels.The adsorption capacity of PAM/4.7%SA and PAM/10.3%SA hydrogels at equilibrium can reach 40.01 and 44.02 mg/g for methylene blue,which is higher than the value 13.58 mg/g of pure PAM hydrogel.The compressive strength of pure PAM hydrogel is 0.124 MPa.When the SA content is 4.7%,7.8%,and 10.3%,the compressive strength of the PAM/SA hydrogel was corresponding to 0.130 MPa,0.134 MPa,and 0.152 MPa,respectively.Fe^(3+)was introduced into the PAM/SA hydrogels,and PAM/SA/Fe^(3+)double-network hydrogels with excellent mechanical properties could be prepared by adjusting the SA content(4.7%,7.8%,and 10.3%),soaking time(1 h,2 h,3 h,4 h,5 h,6 h),and Fe^(3+)concentration(4.76%,7.41%,9.09%,and 13.04%).Under the same Fe^(3+)concentration of 9.09%and adsorption time of 4 h,the compressive strengths of the PAM/4.7%SA,PAM/7.8%SA,and PAM/10.3%SA hydrogels could reach 0.354 MPa,0.767 MPa,and 0.778 MPa,respectively.