GRAFTED AMYLOPECTIN - APPLICATIONS IN FLOCCULATION

Graft copolymers of amylopectin and polyacrylamide were synthesized us ing a eerie ion induced redox initiation technique. Flocculation chara cteristics of the graft copolymers were studied using two systems, one containing a synthetic effluent of kaolin clay (0.25% w/v) in distill ed water, and the other containing a paper-mill white effluent. The re sults were compared with some of the commercially available flocculant s. It was found that the performance of graft copolymers is on a par w ith most of the commercial flocculants tested, although one of them pe rformed better. The synthetic parameters affecting the variation in th e number and length of polyacrylamide chains in the graft copolymers a re found to affect the flocculation behaviour. Aquaset (AS 510) is fou nd to be a better flocculant for the white papermill effluent in compa rison with the graft copolymers. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All ri ghts reserved.