title: Super water-absorbing new material from chitosan, EDTA and urea.
abstract: A new, super water-absorbing, material is synthesized by the reaction between chitosan, EDTA and urea and named as CHEDUR. CHEDUR is probably formed through the crosslinking of chitosan molecules (CH) with the EDTA-urea (EDUR) adduct that is formed during the reaction. CHEDUR as well as the other products formed in control reactions are characterized extensively. CHEDUR exhibits a very high water uptake capacity when compared with chitosan, chitosan-EDTA adduct, as well as a commercial diaper material. A systematic study was done to find the optimum composition as well as reaction conditions for maximum water absorbing capacity. CHEDUR can play a vital role in applications that demand the rapid absorption and slow release of water such as agriculture, as a three in one new material for the slow release of urea, water and other metal ions that can be attached through the EDTA component. The other potential advantage of CHEDUR is that it can be expected to degrade in soil based on its chitosan backbone. The new material with rapid and high water uptake could also find potential applications as biodegradable active ingredient of the diaper material.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai 600036, India.
authors.forename: Abathodharanan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Narayanan
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai 600036, India. Electronic address: damo@iitm.ac.in.
authors.forename: Raghavachari
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Dhamodharan
mesh_terms: D000383:Agriculture; D048271:Chitosan / Q000737:chemistry*; D003692:Delayed-Action Preparations / Q000737:chemistry; D004492:Edetic Acid / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000737:chemistry; D020136:Hydrogel, Polyethylene Glycol Dimethacrylate / Q000737:chemistry*; D014508:Urea / Q000737:chemistry*; D014867:Water / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D003692:Delayed-Action Preparations; C114304:chitosan-EDTA; C056647:urea-EDTA; D014867:Water; D020136:Hydrogel, Polyethylene Glycol Dimethacrylate; D014508:Urea; D048271:Chitosan; D004492:Edetic Acid
keywords: Biodegradable; Chitosan; Hydrogel; Renewable; Super water absorbing polymer