The synthesis and characterization of a xanthan gum-acrylamide-trimethylolpropane triglycidyl ether hydrogel

To improve the thermal stability and adsorption performance, xanthan gum was modified with acrylamide and trimethylolpropane triglycidyl ether (TTE). The modified xanthan gum (XGTTE) was characterized by Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, X-ray diffractogram (XRD), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The characteristic peaks at 3449, 1655, 1611 and 1420 cm-1 in the FT-IR confirm the modification. The XGTTE crystal grew well upon addition of TTE. The XRD and DSC data revealed that the XGTTE enhanced its thermal stability. Analysis of SEM revealed that the grafting introduced major changes on the microstructure making it porous and resulting in the adsorption of crystal violet (CV) with flocculation. The CV adsorption capacity of the hydrogel with different dosages of TTE (XGTTE2, XGTTE3, XGTTE4, XGTTE5 and XGTTE6) were between 28.13 with 35.12 mg/g. In addition, the adsorption capacity, thermal stability, and swelling property of XGTTE4 were the best.