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This work reports on a method for the determination of residual acrylic acid (AA) in the superabsorbent polymers for hygiene products by headspace analysis. It was based on water extraction for the polymer sample at a room temperature for 50min. Then, the AA in the extractant reacted with bicarbonate solution in a closed headspace sample vial, from which the carbon dioxide generated from the reaction (within 20min at 70°C) was detected by gas chromatography (GC). It was found that there is adsorption partition equilibrium of AA between solid-liquid phases. Therefore, an equation for calculating the total AA content in the original polymers sample was derived based on the above phase equilibrium. The results show that the HS-GC method has good precision (RSD<2.51%) and good accuracy (recoveries from 93 to 105%); the limit of quantification (LOQ) was 373mg/kg. The present method is rapid, accurate, and suitable for determining total residual acrylic acid in a wide variety of applications from processing of superabsorbent polymer to commercial products quality control., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Exploitation of biomaterials derived from renewable resources is an important approach to address environmental and resource problems in the world today. In this paper, novel ionic hydrogels based on xylan-rich hemicelluloses were prepared by free radical graft copolymerization of acrylic acid (AA) and xylan-rich hemicelluloses (XH) by using N,N-methylene-bis(acrylamide) (MBA) as cross-linker and ammonium persulfate/N,N,N',N'-tetramethylethylenediamine (APS/TMEDA) as redox initiator system. The network characteristics of the ionic hydrogels were investigated by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), as well as by determination of mechanical properties, swelling, and stimuli responses to pH, salts, and organic solvents. The results showed that an increase in the MBA/XH or AA/XH ratio resulted in higher cross-linking density of the network and thus decreased the swelling ratio. Expansion of the network hydrogels took place at high pH, whereas shrinkage occurred at low pH or in salt solutions as well as in organic solvents. The ionic hydrogels had high water adsorption capacity and showed rapid and multiple responses to pH, ions, and organic solvents, which may allow their use in several areas such as adsorption, separation, and drug release systems.

Block copolymer micelles with bactericidal properties were designed to deactivate pathogens such as E. coli bacteria. The micelles of PS-b-PAA and PS-b-P4VP block copolymers were loaded with biocides TCMTB or TCN up to 20 or 30 wt.-%, depending on the type of antibacterial agent. Bacteria were exposed to loaded micelles and bacterial deactivation was evaluated. The micelles loaded with TCN are bactericidal; bacteria are killed in less than two minutes of exposure. The most likely interpretation of the data is that the biocide is transferred to the bacteria by repeated micelle/bacteria contacts, and not via the solution., (Copyright © 2011 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)