Synthesis and characterization of acrylamide/acrylic acid hydrogel and its application for crystal violet dye adsorption

Acrylamide/acrylic acid (AAm/AAc) hydrogel was prepared by free radical polymerization in aqueous solution of acrylamide and acrylic acid as a comonomer using ammonium persulfate and N,N,N’,N’-tetramethylethylenediamine as an initiator system and N,N’-methylenebisacrylamide as a crosslinker at room temperature. The hydrogels were prepared from acrylamide/acrylic acid with the ratios of 2.5/97.5, 5/95, 10/90, 20/80, 30/70, 40/60 and 50/50. The swelling property and the equilibrium water content of the hydrogel were determined in distilled water and in a solution of pH 3, 5, 7 and 8 for 96 hours. The result showed that the maximum swelling and equilibrium water content of the hydrogel obtaining from AAm/ AAc in the ratio of 10/90 were found to be 3,945% and 0.9747 at pH 8, respectively. The adsorption capacity of AAm/AAc (10/90) for crystal violet was also investigated at pH 3, 5, 7, 8 and 9 for 48 hours. It was found that the optimum adsorption capacity of the hydrogel was in the range of 5-8. The adsorption rate was 90% of the sorption completion within 48 hours. The equilibrium data fitted well to the Langmuir isotherm with the maximum adsorption capacity of 116.28 mg/g at pH 7