Journal of Environmental Management 239 (2019) 255–261

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Journal of Environmental Management

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jenvman

Research article

Recovery of hydrogel from baby diaper wastes and its application for T
enhancing soil irrigation management
Maher Al-Jabari∗, Rana Abu Ghyadah, Rawan Alokely
Environmental Technology Engineering, Palestine Polytechnic University, Hebron, Palestine

A R T I C LE I N FO A B S T R A C T

Keywords: Improving irrigation management by using hydrogels is an advanced approach for maximizing agricultural land
Hydrogel productivity. This experimental study demonstrated the technical feasibility of utilizing superabsorbent polymer
Soil moisturizing recovered from waste baby diapers for increasing water retention in soil and improving irrigation management.
Irrigation After separation, recovery and cleaning of the recycled hydrogel, experimental parametric study was performed.
Swelling
It investigated the swelling capacity and kinetics, de-swelling behavior, and the effects of temperature, salt
Superabsorbent polymer
concentration, and pH on the performance of recycled hydrogel. Red clay soil modified with the recovered
Agriculture
hydrogel was used to investigate water retention ability in soil. The swelling capacity increases with time, until it
approaches an equilibrium state within about 100 min. At normal conditions, the equilibrium swelling capacity
achieves an equilibrium value of 235 g water/g hydrogel. The swelling capacity increases with temperature,
while it decreases with increasing pH or salt concentration. The addition of the recycled hydrogel to soil de-
creases water loss by infiltration and enhances irrigation management and plant growth.

1. Introduction Within this context, polymers play an important role in agricultural

as water absorbing gels (Ekebafe et al., 2011). Hydrophilic polymers
Drought stress is one of the major limiting factors that affect crop have great potential in restoration and reclamation of soil. Super-
growth and productivity. Agricultural development focuses on the absorbent polymer hydrogels influence soil permeability, density,
sustainable use of land, water and plant resources (Ekebafe et al., structure, texture, evaporation and infiltration rates of water through
2011). The agricultural sector is one of the important economic sectors the soil. When these hydrogels are managed correctly, they maintain
in Palestine. It provides employment for 11% of the total labor force in about 95% of the absorbed water available for plant absorption.
the West Bank and 10% in the Gaza Strip. In addition, it is the largest Hydrogel polymers are classified into three groups, starch-poly-
consumer of water (consumes about 90% of the groundwater). Con- acrylonitrile graft polymers (starch copolymers), vinyl alcohol-acrylic
tinuing shortage of water resources and low level of underground wells acid co-polymers and acrylamide sodium acrylate co-polymers (Yazdani
resulted in decreasing agricultural production and employment. Official et al., 2007). Hydrogels include permanent (chemical) and reversible
statistics indicated that there was a decline in the contribution of (physical) gels: chemical gels are covalently cross-linked and attain an
agriculture to GDP, for example, it contributed with about 3.8% in equilibrium swelling state that depends on the polymer-water interac-
2015, compared to 4.5% in 2014. These issues demand research efforts tion and the crosslink density. Reversible or physical gel are held to-
in the field of irrigation management. gether by molecular entanglements, and/or by secondary bonds such as
Traditionally, agricultural management was based mainly on direct hydrogen bonding or hydrophobic interactions water (Zohuriaan-Mehr
plant irrigation. This method is still common, however, more efficient and Kabiri, 2008). Superabsorbent polymers include ionic, non-ionic,
and effective management protocols are also used such as drip and and amphoteric electrolyte containing both acidic and basic groups.
spray irrigations as well as flood (furrow) irrigation. Water used in Water holding capacity and permeability are the most important
traditional irrigation systems is not fully absorbed by the plants. Part of characteristic features of a hydrogel. Upon contact with water, the polar
it evaporates, and other part infiltrates into the ground. In view of the hydrophilic groups are first hydrated leading to the formation of pri-
scarcity of water, there is an urgent need for better management of mary bound water. Then, the network swells water and exposes the
water so that it remains available in soil, close to the roots of plants. hydrophobic groups, which interact with water molecules. This leads to

∗
Corresponding author.
E-mail address: mjabari@ppu.edu (M. Al-Jabari).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2019.03.087
Received 31 December 2018; Received in revised form 16 March 2019; Accepted 17 March 2019
Available online 20 March 2019
0301-4797/ © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
M. Al-Jabari, et al. Journal of Environmental Management 239 (2019) 255–261

the formation of hydrophobic bound water (secondary bound water). of salt concentration, pH, and temperature on swelling capacity, and
Primary and secondary bound waters are called total bound water. the water retention capacity in red soil modified with recovered hy-
Then, the network absorbs additional water, under the impact of its drogel. The technical feasibility of using hydrogel was performed on
osmotic driving force. Such a swelling behavior is opposed by the soil samples modified with the recovered hydrogel.
covalent or physical cross-links, leading to an elastic network retraction
force. Thus, the hydrogel will eventually reach an equilibrium swelling 2.1. Materials and equipment
level. The additionally absorbed water (free water or bulk water) fills
the space between the network chains, and the macrospores, or voids. Samples of superabsorbent polymer were recovered from waste
The high water absorption capacity and biocompatibility of hy- diapers, collected from local users. The collected waste diapers were
drogels promote their applications in dental materials and tissue en- originally manufactured by Predo company, Turkey. The source of the
gineering (Rosiak et al., 1995). Pharmaceutical applications include superabsorbent gel is from Formosa Plastics Corporation (Taipei,
wound care (Rosiak and Yoshii, 1999), drug delivery, cosmetics (Drury Taiwan). The gel is a cross-linked sodium polyacrylate, with a CAS No.
and Mooney, 2003) and nanogels delivered proteins (Bai et al., 2018). 9003-04-07, and a linear formula of [CH2CH(CO2Na)]n. It has an ap-
In additions, hydrogels were used in wastewater treatment (Pakdel and parent bulk density in the range of 600–700 kg/m3. It is a white powder
Peighambardoust, 2018) and for the removal of toxic arsenate from with a typical particle size in the range of 90–850 μm, and with ma-
aqueous medium (Barakat and Sahiner, 2008). A gelatin-impregnated- jority at about 300 μm.
yeast was used as a novel bio-sorbent to remove Cr(VI) from water Materials included unused tea bags for holding the gel in water,
(Mahmoud, 2015). Gels have been prepared using inorganic nano- distilled water, salts (CaCl2 and NaCl), sulfuric acid (H2SO4), sodium
particles with organic solvents for removing bitumen stains (Lemesre hydroxide (NaOH), washed red clay soil, seedlings of irrigated tomato
et al., 2019). variety, without apparent pest or disease problems.
Agricultural applications include various type of hydrogels (Singh
et al., 2018a, 2018b). These include cross-linked polyacrylamide hy- 2.2. Methods
drogels (Lentz, 2007) and superabsorbent polymers (Sutradhar et al.,
2015). New gel developments include the use of cellulose-based su- Samples of waste diapers containing only urine were used. The su-
perabsorbent (Satriani et al., 2018), agar/gum Arabic based super- perabsorbent polymer was manually separated from the used diaper.
absorbent (Hasija et al., 2018) and zeolite (Gholamhoseini et al., 2018). After washing with water, it was kept in water under stirring for 2 min.
Hydrogels are also used for slow release of fertilizer (Rabat et al., 2016). Then, water was removed by filtration on a filter paper. The washing
A superabsorbent-fertilizer composite is used for maximizing the nu- process was repeated two times to reduce salt content. Then, the
trient and water use efficiency in forestry plantations (Tubert et al., polymer was sterilized to eliminate pathogens, and volatile pollutants.
2018). Recent management issues focus on the assessment of the impact Sterilization was made by placing the sample of superabsorbent
of irrigation, fertility and hydrogel levels on growth attributes (Saini polymer in an oven at 125 °C for 15 min. Then, the polymer was kept at
et al., 2018). They also included assessing practical agricultural appli- 60 °C for 24 h, for drying. Red soil clay particles (particle size of around
cations, evaluating irrigation scheduling (Singh et al., 2018a, 2018b), 100 μm) from a local source, were washed with water. Then, they were
and studying the economic feasibility of irrigation scheduling with dried in the oven at 60 °C for two days, before use.
hydrogel (Jat et al., 2018). In swelling and de-swelling kinetic experiments, a sample of known
Recent experimental studies investigated the influence of hydrogel mass (0.1 g) of the recovered polymer was used. Each sample was
on fruit production (Cavalcante et al., 2018), the growth of young placed in a tea bag. Swelling of the tea bag (as a control sample) was
coffee seedling (Nagaraj Gokavi et al., 2018), and cherry tomatoes tested and found to be nil. Then, the bag containing the gel was im-
(Suresh et al., 2018). mersed in 100 ml distilled water in a beaker at laboratory temperature
In most of the previous applications, superabsorbent polymers (SAP) (reported), for the required time. The bag was then taken out from the
were used as hydrophilic networks that affected plant height and soil beaker, and weighed. Then, the sample was retained back to the baker.
moisture (Zohuriaan-Mehr and Kabiri, 2008). Water use efficiency was This process was repeated for various time intervals for obtaining ki-
increased by the application of superabsorbent polymer (Keshavars netic swelling data. The swelling capacity (Sc) was calculated according
et al., 2012). Mixing SAP with soil decreased water evaporation rate to the following mass balance equation:
and increased grain yield (Moslemi et al., 2011). Most previous pub-
WS − Wd
lications used commercial superabsorbent polymers. Only one recent S c=
Wd (1)
publication was found utilizing a superabsorbent polymer from waste
(Sánchez-Orozco et al., 2017). It investigated its application on sandy where Wd is the weight of the dry hydrogel, and Ws is the weight of
soil. hydrogel after swelling, at certain time.
This paper investigates the kinetic and equilibrium behavior of a In de-swelling kinetic experiments, saturated hydrogel (after
recycled hydrogel, capitalizing on the concept of re-use of waste as a achieving equilibrium swelling) was placed in a dish, at the laboratory
resource. The recovered gel from wastepaper diapers was used with red conditions (at a temperature range of 16–20 °C). Then, it was weighed
soil. It is in line with recent research developments on producing hy- daily. The swelling capacity was obtained from Eq. (1). The effect of
drogels from waste, such as that in a recent study on preparing hydrogel temperature was explored by performing kinetic experiments at
from waste chicken feathers as a fertilizer carrier (Sánchez-Orozco 65 ± 2 °C.
et al., 2017). The aim of this paper is to improve water management by The effect of pH on swelling capacity was studied by preparing
increasing irrigation efficiency and reducing irrigation frequency. An solutions with various pH values, which were manipulated through
experimental parametric study of the kinetics of water swelling and de- adding the required amounts of acid or alkaline solutions. These solu-
swelling of the recovered hydrogel, and its performance in soil is pre- tions were used instead of water in swelling experiments. The equili-
sented. brium swelling capacity was measured after 100 min, a period which
was confirmed earlier to achieve equilibrium. The effect of salt content
2. Experimental on hydrogel swelling capacity was investigated using prepared solu-
tions of CaCl2, and NaCl (with 1–6 wt% contents) in a similar manner as
The performance of the recovered hydrogel was investigated ex- in pH experiments. These tests were run at 17 °C.
perimentally. Real samples of hydrogel were recovered from waste Gel modified soil samples were prepared by mixing various pro-
dippers. The investigated experimental parameters included the effects portions of recycled hydrogel with washed red clay soil with a total

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M. Al-Jabari, et al. Journal of Environmental Management 239 (2019) 255–261

mass of 50 g. Each sample was placed in a dish as a thin layer and osmotic pressure difference between the polymer and the surrounding
irrigated by spraying 25 ml of distilled water to the top surface, for one medium, resulting in a driving force causing the inflow of water and the
time, and then weighed. The samples were placed at laboratory con- swelling of the polymer network. Obviously, rapid water absorption
ditions (with a temperature range of 16–20 °C). The water retention kinetics occurs at initial times, since the osmotic pressure is initially
capacity of the gel modified soil was measured. The kinetic behavior high. The polymer backbone is hydrophilic, resulting from the hydro-
was obtained by weighing the soil sample every day for two weeks. philic carboxylic acid groups (eCOOH).
Water retention (Wr) was obtained from the following mass balance After sufficient time, the swelling kinetics slows down, as a result of
equation. decreasing osmotic pressure, until it reaches equilibrium after ap-
proximately 100 min. The equilibrium swelling capacity is about 235 g/
Wo − Wt
W r= x100% g. Such an equilibrium state results from the nature of hydrogel: the
Wo (2)
partially neutralized hydrogel causes electrostatic repulsion between
where Wo and Wt are the initial and the instantaneous weights of the the negatively charged carboxyl groups, which drives the expansion of
modified soil, respectively. the three-dimensional network. Then, upon swelling sufficient amount
Finally, soil and modified soil samples with masses of 500 g were of water, a balance between forces resulting from the osmotic pressure
placed in pots. In each pot, a tomato seedling was planted. Each sample and the elastic attractive force is developed preventing further swelling.
was irrigated with 250 ml of tap water, on weakly basis for four weeks, This yields to a Donnan membrane equilibrium between the ionic
with a total of 1 L water. After each irrigation installment, the in- polymer and its surrounding water, as demonstrated in previous lit-
filtrated water from each pot was collected in a tray placed under the erature (Shukla and Madras, 2011). The measured large equilibrium
pot. Then, the volume of infiltrated water was measured. The effects of swelling capacity reflects the fact that the recovered superabsorbent
hydrogel on plant growth (number of leaves) and on water infiltration polymer possesses many hydrophilic groups, with an appropriate
were reported. Three replicates were performed in each case. Then, the crosslinking degree and a convenient three-dimensional network
average value of the measured parameter was estimated and reported. structure, which generates high osmotic pressure, as reported in pre-
vious literature (Sánchez-Orozco et al., 2017).
Although a similar qualitative kinetic behavior was reported in lit-
3. Results and discussion
erature for hydrogel from waste diapers (Sánchez-Orozco et al., 2017),
considerable quantitative differences were observed. The reported time
Kinetics and equilibrium results are presented in the following sub-
to approach equilibrium in previous work was 30 min. However, a
sections. Reproducible results were obtained. Immersing the recycled
larger equilibrium swelling capacity (235 g/g) with a longer swelling
hydrogel in water allows the absorbance of large amounts of water. This
time (nearly 100 min) was obtained for our recovered hydrogel (com-
indicates that the recovered gel has a high water-holding capacity and
pared to the previously reported value at 189 g/g). Nearly, 25% in-
consequently a large water use efficiency with less soil permeability and
crease in equilibrium swelling ratio was obtained.
infiltration rates, in a similar trend as reported in previous literature
It is possible that the allowed time in the previous work was not
(Ekebafe et al., 2011).
adequate to reach equilibrium. However, there are several variations
between the two studies: one of them is the recovery method: In the
3.1. Swelling and de-swelling kinetics of the recovered hydrogel previous work, the recovery method was based on sterilization (at
125 °C for 15 min) followed by drying at 60 °C for 24 h, without pre-
Fig. 1 presents the swelling kinetics of the recovered superabsorbent washing. In such an approach, sodium ions from urine in the waste
polymer as a plot of swelling capacity (in grams of distilled water ab- diapers were not removed. The residual sodium ions interfere strongly
sorbed per gram of hydrogel) versus time. This swelling occurs as a with swelling characteristics of the hydrogel i.e. decreasing the swelling
result of the interaction of COOe groups from the hydrogel with the capacity (as discussed below). However, in our recovery method,
polar water molecules, forming hydrogen bonds. As an ionic polymer, washing was done two times before sterilization. In this way, the re-
the neutralized chains contain charged groups that repel each other sidual sodium ions from urine in the waste diapers were removed.
resulting in an overall electrical neutrality (by the negative carboxylate In addition, there are other possible structural differences in the
groups and the positive sodium ions). Upon contact with water, the original SAPs used in the waste diapers: Factors that affect properties of
sodium ions are hydrated, thus, their attraction to the carboxylate ions superabsorbent polymer (SAP) include the cross-linker type and con-
are reduced. They move freely within the network, and cannot leave the centration, type and concentration of the monomers, polymerization
gel because they remain weakly attracted to the negative carboxylate method and temperature, porosity generating method and particle size
ions and the gel acts as a membrane preventing Na+ ions from dif- of the hydrogel (Zohuriaan-Mehr and Kabiri, 2008). In addition, hy-
fusing outwards towards the surroundings. Thus, the sodium ions re- drogel performance is affected by type, size, and amount of inorganic
main trapped by a semi-permeable membrane. This creates a high particles incorporated. Variations in these factors result in a different
250
performance between the two hydrogels. This interpretation is sup-
ported by the obtained low range swelling capacities as functions of
other investigated parameters (pH and salt concentrations), that were
200
reported in the previous literature, as presented below.
Swelling Capacity (g/g)

Fig. 2 shows the de-swelling kinetics of the recycled superabsorbent

150
polymer, as a plot of swelling capacity (g water/g hydrogel) versus
time. The experiment was made on the recovered hydrogel after it had
100
reach equilibrium. At initial times (e.g. day 1), the water loss from the
hydrogel is very small, since the surface is saturated with water. In this
50
case, the rate is mainly governed by water evaporation. Then, the
weight of the gel is reduced sharply at a nearly constant rate, followed
0 by a transitional zone, during which the rate decreases with time. It is
0 20 40 60 80 100 120
believed that the de-swelling kinetics is controlled by the drying rate
Time (min)
i.e. it is mass transferred controlled. This process continues until water
Fig. 1. Swelling kinetics of the recovered superabsorbent polymer as a plot of content of hydrogel approached nearly “dry” state with approximately
swelling capacity (g distilled water absorbed/g hydrogel) versus time, at 16 °C. zero water content after fourteen day. It is believed that swelling

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M. Al-Jabari, et al. Journal of Environmental Management 239 (2019) 255–261

300

250

Swelling Capacity (g/g)

200

150

100

50

0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
Time (day)
Fig. 2. De-swelling kinetics of the recovered superabsorbent polymer as a plot of swelling capacity (g water/g hydrogel) versus time (after removing the gel from
distilled water) at a temperature range of 16–20 °C.

kinetics are more suitable for investigating the thermodynamics beha- swelling capacity. Theoretically, the equilibrium swelling capacity de-
vior of the gel than the de-swelling kinetics, since it is controlled by creases with increasing concentration of ions according to Flory equa-
mass transfer and evaporation rates. tion; which states that at equilibrium, Sc(5/3) is inversely proportional to
Obviously, our recovered hydrogel has a high capacity to absorb the concentration of electrolyte, in a similar trend as that observed in
and retain water, and thus it is suitable to be used for agricultural ap- Fig. 3. The equilibrium swelling capacity is strongly dependent on the
plications. It has a technical feasibility of increasing water hold capacity type of salt added to the swelling medium. The calcium chloride has a
of soil and thus reducing irrigation cost. These results indicate that the larger effect on the equilibrium swelling capacity than NaCl due to
hydrogel has a reversible behavior: it releases its water to soil, when stoichiometric differences: It is well known that the ionic strength of the
irrigation is stopped. When farming with a hydrogel modified soil, salt solution depends on both the concentration and the charge of each
hydrogel will enhance soil permeability, and stop erosion runoff, re- ion. Multivalent cations (e.g. Ca2+) can neutralize several charges in-
sulting in better agriculture economics. side the gel by complex formation with carboxylate groups, leading to
an increased ionic crosslinking degree and consequently to a loss in
swelling capacity. This explains why CaCl2 results in a larger reduction
3.2. Effect of salt content on equilibrium swelling capacity swelling capacity than NaCl. A similar behavior of hydrogel was ob-
tained in previous work (Sánchez-Orozco et al., 2017). However, a
The maximum swelling capacity of the gel occurs in deionised sharper decrease in the swelling capacity with salt concentration were
water; when the SAPs are immersed in an electrolytic medium, such as obtained in the previous work, for similar reasons explained above (i.e.
NaCl, the mobile ions from the electrolyte reduces the repulsion forces recovery method and structure differences).
between the fixed charges on the carboxylic groups, and thus reduces This salt effect has an impact on the practical application in agri-
the gel swelling capacity (Shukla and Madras, 2011). Fig. 3 presents the culture i.e. the salinity of the soil must be monitored: The salinity of soil
effect of salt concentration on equilibrium swelling capacity using two is a controlling factor in the behavior of the recycled hydrogel in
types of salts: NaCl and CaCl2. Clearly, swelling capacity of the recycled agricultural applications. Soil salinity should be very low in order to
hydrogel decreases with increasing salt concentration, for the two types create suitable conditions for hydrogel to absorb water efficiently and
of salts, since swelling capacity decreases with increasing the ionic then to release it, for best irrigation management. Thus, in practical
strength of the saline solution. Such a behavior is frequently observed in applications, an initial operation period with water irrigation without
swelling of all ionic hydrogels (Kabiri et al., 2003). A similar trend of hydrogel might be useful to reduce soil salinity through water in-
decreasing equilibrium swelling capacity with increasing concentration filtration. Then, the soil may have better conditions for receiving the
of electrolyte was reported in the previous work (Shukla and Madras, hydrogel. For the same reason, the salinity of irrigation water must be
2011). Increasing the concentration of sodium ions outside the gel controlled in terms of dissolved solids, for efficient use of the recovered
network decreases the difference in osmotic pressure and thus reduces gel.
the driving force for swelling. This results in reducing the equilibrium

300
3.3. Effect of temperature on swelling kinetics and equilibrium capacity
250 NaCl
Fig. 4 compares curves of swelling kinetic at two different tem-
Swelling Capacity (g/g)

CaCl2
200 peratures. Obviously, the swelling capacity increases with increasing
temperature. A larger swelling capacity was obtained at high tem-
150
peratures due to segmental mobility of the hydrogel in addition to
100 making the conditions within the hydrogel more favorable for water
molecules to form hydrogen bonds with polar groups. Non smooth
50 behavior was obtained at 65 °C. In previous work (Sánchez-Orozco
et al., 2017), it was indicated that the gel was unstable at temperatures
0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
above 50 °C and the swelling capacity was drastically reduced. This was
explained due to the breakdown of the hydrogen bonds between the
Salt content (wt%)
water molecules and the chains of hydrogel network. However, at 21 °C,
Fig. 3. Equilibrium swelling capacity of the recovered hydrogel versus salt the obtained swelling kinetics (Fig. 4) is very close to that obtained at
content in water for two types of salts indicated on the figure at 17 °C. 16 °C (Fig. 1). This indicates that the swelling kinetics and capacity are

258
M. Al-Jabari, et al. Journal of Environmental Management 239 (2019) 255–261

240

210

180

Swelling Capacity (g/g)

150

120 T=21 °C

90
T=65±2 °C
60

30

0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Time (min)
Fig. 4. Swelling capacity of the recovered hydrogel at different temperatures.

not very sensitive to small variations in temperature. This means that 120
practical agricultural applications of the recovered hydrogel will not
suffer from small daily changes in temperatures. 100 control

Water Reten on (%)

1%
80
3.4. Effect of pH on equilibrium swelling capacity 2%
60
As demonstrated in section 3.2 above, the hydrogel swelling capa-
city decreases with increasing ionic strength. Thus, hydrogels are very 40
sensitive to pH. The pH of soil affects the ionic strength of the sur-
rounding environment of the hydrogel. Soils are usually alkaline. Fig. 5 20
shows curves of the kinetics of swelling of the recycled hydrogel at
various pH values, within the alkaline range. Obviously, changing the 0
pH effects the time period required to approach equilibrium, and 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14
strongly affects the equilibrium swelling capacity. This is attributed to Time (day)
the fact that the recovered superabsorbent is of anionic type, containing
Fig. 6. Water retention in soil as a function of time at two mixing ratios of
hydrophilic groups, which play an important role in swelling behavior. recycled hydrogel (1% and 2%), compared to control soil ample, at a tem-
They result in variable water capacity with different interaction species perature range of 16–20 °C.
at various pH values. At alkaline medium, the swelling capacity de-
creases with increasing pH due to charge screening effect of Na+ in
results obtained from recycled gel modified soil with at two mixing
swelling media. This results in shielding the carboxylate anions and
ratios of 1% and 2%, with results obtained from a control soil sample
thus minimize the anion-anion repulsion. At high pH (e.g. 12), the in-
(without a hydrogel). At early stages, water retention in hydrogel
crease in the ionic strength of the swelling medium causes a large de-
modified soil sample maintained larger swelling capacity compared to
crease in the ionic osmotic pressure, resulting in a reduction in equili-
the control sample, indicating a better water management. The sample
brium swelling capacity.
that contains 2% of hydrogel has slightly higher ability to maintain
water; only 76% of its water content is lost after 12 days, compared to
3.5. Managing water irrigation in hydrogel modified red soil
78.7% and 80.8% water loss for the 1% and control samples after 12
days, respectively. However, de-swelling kinetics is controlled by eva-
Fig. 6 presents results of water retention experiments for soil ap-
poration and drying behaviors (as discussed in Section 3.1). These
plications, as plots of water retention as functions of time. It compares
parameters cannot be separated well in such experiments. Investigating
300 the effects of various parameters on de-swelling behavior requires
further modeling studies such as the application of Elovich kinetic
250 equation to the kinetics of the process (Chien and Clayton, 1980). This
pH=8 is recommended for future research work.
200 Visual observations revealed that upon hydrogel de-swelling with
pH=9
Swelling Capacity (g/g)

drying for long time, soil integrity was not maintained; but cracked soil
150 pH=10 layers were observed, leading to an increased surface area and in-
pH=12 creased evaporation rate. Moreover, such a soil cracking may lead to
100 better aeration near the root zone, which may improve root develop-
ment.
50

0 3.6. Agricultural application management of hydrogel modified red soil

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40
Time (min) Table 1 lists the measured water infiltration from each sample (in-
filtrated water volume out of the total 1 L irrigation water). Obviously,
Fig. 5. Effect of pH on swelling capacity of the recovered hydrogel at 17 °C. water infiltration is reduced considerably when the recovered hydrogel

259
M. Al-Jabari, et al. Journal of Environmental Management 239 (2019) 255–261

Table 1 Future recommended research work include modeling the kinetic

Results of application of recovered gel in modifying red soil. Llisted values are and equilibrium behaviors of the recovered hydrogel (e.g. using 1st
averages of 3 replicates, and values of standard deviations are given between order model for swelling kinetics).
brackets.
gel content plant growth water infiltration after a total of 1000 ml irrigation 4. Conclusions

wt % No. of leaves (mL) %* Hydrogels from waste diapers can be recovered and utilized as a
0 (control) 36.4 (10.9) 215 (18.4) 22% (1.8%) water absorbing material in agriculture for a better irrigation man-
1% 51 (2.1) 91.4 (30.7) 9% (0.9%) agement. They enhance water retention in soil and improve irrigation
2% 57.7 (10.2) 0 0 efficiency. The addition of the recovered hydrogel to red soil decreases
3% 50.7 (2.5) 0 0 water loss by infiltration and improves plant growth. The quantity of
total water required for the irrigation can be reduced by 15–50% with
soil modified by SAP hydrogel. The swelling capacity of the recovered
is added to the soil, indicating a better water irrigation management.
hydrogel increases with time, until it approaches an equilibrium ca-
Modified soil samples containing 2% and 3%, does not infiltrate water.
pacity, which reaches 235 g water/g hydrogel for distilled water. The
The obtained results indicates that the quantity of total water required
swelling capacity increases with temperature, while it decreases with
for the irrigation can be reduced by 15–50% when soil is modified with
increasing pH or salt concentration.
the recovered hydrogel, depending on the mixing proportions. A similar
effect was reported in previous work on synthesized hydrogel: the
Acknowledgment
added hydrogel decreased the seepage rate by absorbing water and
preventing its downward percolation (Lentz, 2007). It was visually
The authors thank Mr. Imadeddin Albaba from the Palestinian
observed that the modified soil expanded with water addition. The
Environment Quality Authority (EQA) for his assistance and guidance
increase in its volume was associated with a decrease in its bulk density
in testing the applicability of the recovered gel in improving plant
and an increase in volume of pores (an increase in soil porosity), as
growth.
reported in previous literature (Lentz, 2007). Although this may appear
to contradict the observed reduction in water infiltration rate, however,
Symbols
the pores in soil are filled with swollen gel masses, which block the
pores and minimize water penetration.
Sc is the swelling capacity calculated according to Eq. (1)
Table 1 also lists the obtained results of tomato growth, within a
Wd is the weight of the dry hydrogel (g)
period of 4 weeks. Obviously, plant growth is enhanced when hydrogel
Wo is the initial weight of the modified soil (g)
is added to the soil, as indicated by the obtained larger number of
Wr is water retention of the modified soil calculated according
leaves for hydrogel modified soil samples compared to that for the
Eq. (2)
control sample. The optimum addition percentage of the gel is 2%.
Ws is the weight of hydrogel after swelling (g)
Other growth parameters can be measured including plant height, girth
Wt is the instantaneous weight of the modified soil (g)
… etc. Such parameters are recommended for future research work.
These findings confirm the applicability of the recovered hydrogel for
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