Antibacterial and swelling performance of superabsorbent polymers incorporated with magnesium oxide nanoparticles

Abstract

Abstract Super absorbent copolymer incorporated with magnesium oxide nanoparticles was investigated for absorptivity in an aqueous solution and anti-bacterial activity against gram-negative Escherichia Coli. Cross-linked copolymers of ionic acrylic acid (A.A.) and nonionic acrylamide (AAm) were synthesized in an aqueous solution via free radical polymerization by providing vigorous mixing and heating. MgO nanoparticles were incorporated into the super-absorbent copolymers during polymerization. For all preparations, the degree of neutralization of acrylic acid was fixed at 75%, the amount of cross-linker NN-MBA was 1% moles of initial monomer, and the initiator potassium persulfate amount was 150 mg. The highest absorption of distilled water was 147 g/g at 80% acrylic acid without MgO nanoparticles content (AA30M). While in 0.9% saline solution, the highest absorption capacity was 39 g/g at 40% acrylamide content (AA10M). Reduced swelling ability was observed by increased magnesium oxide nanoparticles dosage as 121.5 g/g in AA33M copolymer. However, maximum bactericidal activity was observed for AA33M on the agar plate method and Lysogeny broth medium method via UV-spectrophotometer, where the optical density (O.D.) 600 was 0.022. This study is expected to provide a viable solution due to its eco-friendliness, ease of availability, and low cost.