Preparation and characterization of acrylamide based hydrogel composites

In this thesis, acrylamide (Aam) based hydrogels were prepared in different compositions. In addition to Aam, hydrogels were prepared by using N-vinyl-2-pyrrolidone (NVP), potassium humate (KHumate) and polyethylene glycol (PEG) and characteristic of these hydrogels were researched. Aam-NVP was obtained by cross-linking two monomers (copolymer hydrogel) according to the composite hydrogel radical polymerization method. PEG was added in different amounts to obtain the semi-IPN structure. Potassium humate (KHumate) was added to the structure as a filler. The swelling behavior and the thermal properties effect of PEG amounts and filler added to the structure on hydrogel was investigated. Hydrogels were characterized by adsorption analysis, equilibrium swelling percentage, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) analysis, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and ultraviolet (UV) spectrophotometer. 10% PEG solutions were used in the semi-IPN hydrogels obtained by adding different amounts of PEG. The highest swelling value was observed as 1792,45% on semi-IPN hydrogel. The semi-IPN hydrogel that has the highest swelling capacity was used as an adsorbent in the adsorption of methylene blue. In adsorption experiments, the percentage of stain removal at optimum conditions was determined as 86,03%. The highest swelling value of hydrogel composites using KHumate as filler material was observed to be 1703,7%. In the case of adsorption studies in composite hydrogels, the percentage of stain removal in optimum conditions was 83,56%. From the analyzes made on the obtained hydrogels, it is concluded that Aam/NVP/PEG semi-IPN hydrogels and Aam/NVP/PEG/KHumate composite hydrogels can be used as adsorbents in methylene blue adsorption. Keywords: Acrylamide, Hydrogel, Methylene Blue, N-Vinyl-2-Pyrrolidone, Poliethylene Glycol, Potassium Humate, Semi IPN