ChemSumer The Absorbing Story of the Thirsty Polymer By Cynthia Anderson \ WL Whats this?” asks a museum seem obsolete. Yl forall her inreibe properties, poly E: Vitor Sots son thards _Schaes ave oy bg approach pte is rk tothe wristsin aclear, cool, obular fulness in product ¢gL.whlethe demonstrator explains thatthe substance lke te sie o a cactus, polyacrlate hasan ener ‘Simulates the inside of acacus, "But whats i?” someane MOUs capacity fr absorbing water. Capable of holding 800 insist. Hands withdra fast when the guide defies the | Umes ur tore weigit died wate, champion ‘source to be the inside of a disposable diaper used to keep the word of super supers Plyacryate belongs ina babies comfortable end dry. "No. l'snot rom a USED ca pede group of chanical co pert" the guide hastily assures pe pounds called polymers. Poy te asenatec crows mmersed na poyacryto— ers are macromoeces— ‘an amazing materia found in products tht weoften tke very large molecules, Al tor grated. wien compared to potyacryates, paper tow polymers ore mode Up of ls that lays claim tobe the best at mopping up spi, repeating chain oquences often 20,0001 40,000 of these repeating units Fair examples of poly mers include rubber, nylon Tefen, polyester, tex. and ply styrene Superabsorbentpolyacrylate molecules are not simpy lin er, however. Thr ong cin arated tgathar in many places by cross inks made from organic molecules known a alkenes. ‘The song covsort bonds ofthese cross-links ae responsible for hoking the molecule together when ts laced in wae. Inthe absorption press, water sohates or stoves the tiree dimensional polymer. The resulting solaton of postive and negtiveions has some unique features. lof the negative charges remain altached tothe polymer backbone. Atracted by these negative charges. the positively charged sodium ions (a) ac trapped inside the polymer network as wel By fusion, molecules that ae fre to move wl rave from a egion in wtich they are more concerted toa region lower concentration until an equilibrium is achieved. you apy this rue the distil water invhieh youave placed this superabsorbent poly sme, you can predic the result (se Figure 1). Now, thik about a slighly iferert example Suppose thatthe water in wich you place the ply ‘acrylate were not pure? What would happen YOU many ils contain suprabsrbnt pled pymerina sires at ae iar salt solaion? Ths time, foe eect salt on av aqueassltcn of shewateron the ode aw afte eens Cova gi hae ofthe poiymer might have get wi ae sa, Wht boyy? Can yo Sconenttenthgisnat Santas very aterent rom te water on the inside ofthe polymer. Would the amount of water absorbed by te polymer be affect? Palyacrylates have been around since the 1950s, But only in the past two decks have polyacrylates Leen cannon in househatd items throughout the world, Polyacrylates absorb liquid better than cot ton resulting in an improved diaper thats thinner and dryer for a baby. Hair gel you cscovered is another polyaryate—aviscous medium for -syling and even sculpting unmanageable har. The packaging industry pus polyaeryaes to use in packaging meats for marke The thin shest ‘of material undor the moat product contains polyseryite which used to absorb excess liquid. improving both the shel ife and the flavor of ‘thameat. Polyscrylaae are becoming important in the incitil work place to keep damp or wet areas cry, or—in thin layer in the walls of reoms—to control humidity, They may even be found in protective bar riers fr pipelines and tunnels underwater Ccuroelypolyaerylates aca bing tested a6 fie retardants First ‘suggested by John Bartlet, a Florida freighter who noticed atthe ‘san of a rah ie that aby capers had not hunted the commercial proviut is name Baicade®, As aire deterrent, palyacylat, with its 4 ChemMatters, OC TORE 1999 Figure, The distil water on the cutie tall anys he ure emere coasts than th tater hat has flowed into the Polymer The water mlecules reaching {hea ar th pasos wih al tho tapped ions. Water continues etring the Poljme. The dusty ply sels Fray tines forersve wl onstaned bys srg crosslinks, Itcan holo mat. capacity to absorb many time it weight in water f.0 natural. Athough itisnot ipod thot wil be used infighting fires, polyseryiates ‘2am effective in preventing them, When saturated poly sezylatois spread over the surface of material, tacts as share to the spresd of fr. It has baen test in trating the outer ‘surfaces of builings and tres, Bartlet describes it Tike sticking water ‘onthe wall" Tha peiyaceate. pump fl of water enatsth srtaen and, with ts gl polymer holding the watertight, effectively retards the flames. So ar, te ils have been impressive. One recent success was its sffoctiveness in controling the spread of brush fies in California. The potential for this application of plyacrylate coatings forthe protection of valuable and cherished tems when ites threaten is prticully promising The numberof applications for this remarkable polymer is ron ing, From keeping baby’s bottom cry to potentially saving ath human and wif, polyacrylates play an increasingly important role. The stu: dents experiencing polyacylatein the science museum forthe fst time will encounter it many more times in many more ploes as these thirsty polymers continu to appear in a growing variety of products. A nia Andersons chess eat ot Lee High Schoo in Ffox County, Viste wasthe coaahor ofthe ale A Mark f Clr which speared inthe (cl 1988 soe eras REFERENCES Buchholz, FL Superabsorbent Polymers. Joumal of Chemical ‘Education 1986, 73(6), pp 512-55. Bjerio,D. Quicker Picker Upper. Technology Rovow 1904, ‘Mayidune, pp 14-16. amor, C.:Nothing, M; Nouyen,P. Syethess of a Superabsorbont Pine dura’ of enone Eaueaton 1W¥/, (1), >. RELATED ARTICLE Alper, J. Poles. ChemMaters 1886, (2), pp 4-7 ChemMatters, OC TORR 1999 4Super Soakers— Just How Super Are They? Objective ‘The polymer sodium polyacryate and elated compounas nave an amazing repr tion fr the amount of water they can soak up ‘a fol, A ent ta of Sodan poy acrylates that ican absorb 800 times or tne its veg of wate. Haw el your (go about testing tis claim? eres abasic scheme for testing the ability of water absorbing polymers to absorb ‘oro quis ae solutions Materials Safty goggles and lab apron ‘02. plstic cup Several pieces of absorbert paper (coffe fi tere, paper tomes ter poper alae salle factory) Rubber bande ‘Solum polyacrylte poner or equivalent Dropping pipettes or burete 100 mL dsiled water Top weer {O-mL graduated cyinder or similar measur ing device La balance Optional materials Food coloring (to makeit easier to su absorbed quid) Table sl (for extension atv) 5 ChemMatters, OTOH 1999 Try this activity at home; eut ¥ open an unused diaper, You'll find polyacry- late "stut Procedure 1, Putonsafety goggles 2. Place coffee fer or pee of paper towel cover the plastic cup and secureit with a rubberband, so that its igi, ke a rum head, 3, Ifyou are using a burt, ili with tiled water, otherwise calibrate the drop ping pipette by counting how many drops Tetakes tof the graduated cylinder tothe ‘mL mark, 4, dd cstiled water to the surface ofthe colle iter or paper towel ur the moss lure just uniformly aches the edge ofthe cup. Proceed gracuatyto alow une water to be absorbed into the paper. 5. Mesure nats bow much wat I took to just to motsten the oper. Reta your results as your control. (IF you ousinga ropping Pipette, you ‘wl need to check he calibration you made in sop 3) 6, Repeat steps 1-5 fora fresh experimental stip ‘except this time add approximately 0.1 g ‘of the solium palyarylateto the ton of the filter paper. Use the lab balance to rmeesure how much you have added inside. 7. Ad istiled watéronta the sodium poty- acrylate unin UE buat or doping coenuay geass |b) is esorbed othe same po asin sep 37 8, Cale the amount of water tot he polyerabsorbed by subtracting the arcunt of water th paper absorbed in yur contol experiment fom the total mount absorbed bythe polymer. 9. Caeulate the rato ofthe mass of water sorbed pr geno glymee see Remember that water Gensiy I approx- mately 1.09 per ml 10. Repeat the experiment using tap water Follow-up > Tiss just 3 Basic method for determin Let ‘ng the amount of wate absorbed by the sodium potacry- late, Compare your resus with ether students or ty repeaingthe experiment to see hou pre cise your imeasurments| are. Think bout ways you might be ableto improve he procedure to obtain more precise or accurate resus. ae Find out how you can See connect this polymer Pa investigation to some exciting de plans for National Chemistry Week (November 7-13) by going to www.acs.org/incw.