Investigation on swelling and solar dewatering of composite polymer hydrogels as draw agents

Yan, Y., Li, D., Simon, G. and Wang, H. (2012) Investigation on swelling and solar dewatering of composite polymer hydrogels as draw agents. In: Proceedings of CHEMECA 2012, 23 - 26 September, Wellington, New Zealand

Abstract

We reported our investigation on the swelling and solar dewatering behaviours of carbon-incorporated composite polymer hydrogels as draw agents in forward osmosis (FO) desalination. Particle sizes and loadings of carbon fillers inside composite polymer hydrogels affected their swelling ratios and dewatering rates. By incorporating smaller sizes and higher loadings of carbon fillers inside polymer matrix, the swelling ratios and dewatering rates of resulting composite hydrogels were enhanced. The swelling ratio of 5PNIPAM-2CS composite polymer hydrogel with 2 µm carbon fillers and a monomer/filler mass ratio of 5 : 2 was 21, which was 163% greater than that of plain PNIPAM polymer hydrogel. After exposing swollen 5PNIPAM-2CS composite hydrogel to 1 kW/m2 simulated solar irradiation, the dewatering rate was 21% higher as compared with that of pure PNIPAM.

Item Type:	Conference Paper
Murdoch Affiliation(s):	School of Environmental Science
Conference Website:	http://www.chemeca2012.com/
URI:	http://researchrepository.murdoch.edu.au/id/eprint/13157

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