Synthesis of hydrogel particles for disaster relief application

When natural disasters occur, it destroys water facilities and contaminates water resources. Restoring infrastructures or transporting necessities to the affected regions would take some time. Portable and easy-to-use water purification method is needed in regions impacted by disasters to provide drinking water to the affected population. This research focuses on the synthesis of thermal responsive hydrogels that would be suitable for natural disaster relief application. N-isopropylacrylamide (NIPAM) and polyacrylic acid (PAA) were used to fabricate the hydrogels. The effects of different PAA concentrations on swelling capacity and particle removal efficiency were studied. Size and morphological characteristics of the hydrogel particles were determined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Turbidity of contaminated water was measured using turbidimeter. Hydrogel particles with 20% PAA molar ratio were found to have the largest swelling capacity of 1700%. It had a particle removal efficiency of more than 70% for different bentonite concentrations. Furthermore, hydrogel particles were able to be reused for more than three times.Bachelor of Engineering (Materials Engineering