A more eco-friendly synthesis of flocculants to treat wastewaters using health-friendly solvents

The main objective of this work was to investigate the possibility of producing new polyelectrolytes (flocculants) synthesized using health-friendly ingredients. A well-known copolymer used in water treatment, poly(acrylamide-co-2-(acryloyloxy)ethyltrimethyl ammonium chloride), was prepared by inverse-emulsion polymerization using new alternative organic phases. Specifically, three different purified oils of liquid saturated hydrocarbons with high boiling point and high purity were tested as synthesis media in the development of copolymers with different charge densities. In all of these oils, the toxic polycyclic aromatics and the heavy metals were not present. The polyelectrolytes were characterized in terms of shear viscosity, hydrodynamic diameter, molecular weight, zeta potential, intrinsic viscosity, and chemical composition (C-13 NMR and FTIR). Final results revealed the success of the application of the new health-friendly formulation in the polymerization to produce polyelectrolytes and, additionally, the polymers produced had good flocculation efficiency in two different real industrial effluents.