Novel cationic polyamidine: Synthesis, characterization, and sludge dewatering performance

In this study, a new and facile route was employed for synthesis of polyamidine with abundant cations and attractive five-membered ringlike structural unit. N-vinylformamide and acrylonitrile copolymerized firstly to form intermediates, and the intermediates were processed with hydrochloric acid to produce polyamidine. A series of polymerization conditions (e.g. polymerization time, temperature and dosage of initiator) were optimized through productivity, viscosity and cationic degree as evaluation. SEM analysis illustrated that the amidinization process could reduce the size of spaces between molecular and created compact structure, which would contribute to good flocculation performance and high viscosity. FT-IR, XPS and NMR spectra presented a rather clear structure of polyamidine. 34.3% of sludge was sedimentated through the flocculation of polyamidine in the early stages. In contrast, only 6.8% of sludge was sedimentated by polyacrylamide. The moisture content in dehydrated floc could be reduced to 77.7% when 60 mg/L polyamidine was added. These results demonstrated that the polyamidine showed a great potential in the practical application of sludge dewatering.