Abstract
DECREASING freshwater resources of the world has led to the use of seawater for human consumption. But availability of high concentration of salts in seawater makes it unsuitable for direct use, therefore, the seawater is desalinized by various techniques. The present investigation was carried out to test the efficacy of prepared polyacrylic acid hydrogel (PAA) in the desalination of seawater of Haql coast of Saudi Arabia. Hydrogels were prepared from PAA with different concentrations of N, N'- methylene bisacrylamide cross-linker, ammonium persulfate and N, N, N', N'-tetramethylethylenediamine. Free radical polymerization technique was used to proceed the reaction. The chemical structure was evaluated by infrared spectroscopy. The glass transition temperature was recorded by differential scanning calorimetery. Seawater of Haql coast was used to evaluate the swelling properties of hydrogels. The swelling and desalination of water were measured as a factor of time. The results of the study showed that prepared hydrogels were found helpful in the desalination of water samples. Highest desalination was observed in the gels with the largest pore size.