Preparation and properties of chitosan-based water-absorbent resin dust-suppressing microcapsules

Abstract

In order to reduce the dust disaster in the coal mine industry and reduce the probability of coal miners suffering from pneumoconiosis, the graft copolymerization method was adopted, and polyvinyl alcohol was used as the dust suppressant matrix material, under the action of an initiator and a cross-linking agent, 2-acrylamide-2-methylpropanesulfonic acid and acrylic acid are graft-copolymerized with a matrix to prepare a superabsorbent resin as a microcapsule core material. Using chitosan as the wall material, a new type of water-absorbing resin dust-suppressing microcapsules was prepared through the amine-aldehyde condensation of chitosan and glutaraldehyde. The encapsulation of water-absorbent resin and its microcapsules was determined by infrared spectrum analysis and scanning electron microscope. The swelling, moisture retention, wind erosion resistance, and biodegradability of the water-absorbent resin and its microcapsules were studied. The results showed that the microcapsules could swell up to 23 times, and the mass loss after 12 h was only 19.6 %. In the wind erosion resistance experiment, under the wind speed of 13 m/s, the dust suppression efficiency of the microcapsule dust suppressant is as high as 91.98 %, which inhibits the diffusion of coal dust. And after 22 days in the natural environment, the microcapsule dust suppressant can be degraded completely.

Keywords

• coal dust
• chitosan
• graft copolymerization
• dust suppression microcapsules
• biodegradation