Water adsorption behaviour of polyacrylic acid grafted and polyethylene glycol crosslinked deproteinised natural rubber
摘要
With the depletion of petrochemical resources, natural rubber (NR) shows its application potential. On the basis of deproteinised natural rubber (DPNR), a hydrophilic and water-absorbent polymer network composed of a deproteinised natural rubber-grafted-poly(acrylic acid) (DPNR-g-PAA) system and linear polyethylene glycol (PEG) was designed and fabricated. The graft copolymerisation of DPNR with acrylic acid (AA) was initiated by a redox initiator system consisting of potassium persulfate (KPS) and sodium hydrogen sulfite (NaHSO3) under nitrogen, followed by the addition of PEG to the system. The key factors influencing the grafting efficiency of DPNR-g-PAA were investigated, including reaction temperature, mixing time and AA content. The grafting system was finally attached to the hydrophilic polymer PEG. Water adsorption behaviour tests and water contact angle experiments indicated that grafting PAA and linking PEG in DPNR latex increased hydrophilicity. The results indicated that the maximum water absorption of DPNR-g-PAA was 78.24 ± 5.06% and the minimum of water contact angle of DPNR-g-PAA@PEG was 9.58 ± 1.37°. Through the modification of PAA and PEG, the DPNR-g-PAA@PEG product improves the hydrophilicity of DPNR, which has the potential for application in water retention agents and slow-release fertilizers.