Journal
POLYMERS
Volume 14, Issue 24, Pages -Publisher
MDPI
DOI: 10.3390/polym14245430
Keywords
Gleditsia microphylla galactomannan; hydrogel; water retention; sandy soil; desertification
Categories
Funding
- National Key R&D Program of China
- Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities
- China Scholarship Council
- [2022YFD2200804]
- [PTYX202238]
- [202106510018]
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Sandy soil has poor water-holding capacity, leading to difficulties for plant survival and exacerbating ecological degradation. The study developed borax cross-linked Gleditsia microphylla galactomannan hydrogel (GMGH) as a water-retaining agent, which demonstrated fast self-healing capability and high swelling index. Mixing GMGH with sandy soil improved its water absorption and retention properties, with increased porous structure and prolonged water-holding time. GMGH shows promising application prospects in desertification control.
Sandy soil has poor water-holding performance, making it difficult for plants to survive, which worsens the deterioration of the ecological environment. Therefore, borax cross-linked Gleditsia microphylla galactomannan hydrogel (GMGH) was prepared, and its practicability as a water-retaining agent was analyzed. GMGH exhibited fast self-healing performance (150 s, approximate to 100%) and a high swelling index (88.70 g/g in pH 9). The feasibility of improving the water absorption and retention properties of sandy soil was explored by mixing different proportions (0.1, 0.3, 0.5 wt % sandy soil) of GMGH and sandy soil. The results showed that sandy soil had a more porous structure after adding 0.5 wt % GMGH, and its water absorption index increased from 15.68 to 38.12%. In an artificial climate box, the water-holding time of the sandy soil was extended from 3 to 23.5 days, and the cycles of water absorption and retention were more than 10 times. Therefore, GMGH has broad application prospects as a potential water-retaining agent for desertification control.
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