Fabrication of a dual-purpose biodegradable superabsorbent from flax fiber

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Superabsorbent hydrogels are high-value biomaterials utilized as water absorbent, immobilizer or as cellcarriers. They find application in several sectors such as packaging, agricultural, biomedical, tissue engineeringand regenerative medicine industries. Cellulosic materials could be used as a sustainable source material for thefabrication of superabsorbent hydrogels. Seed flax production byproduct, mainly flax fiber, is a cellulose-richmaterial that has not been researched and used as raw material for superabsorbent fabrication. There is a lack oftechnology and technical information to modify this natural fiber to superabsorbent hydrogels.The main objective of this project is to fabricate superabsorbent hydrogels from intact and chemically modifiedflax fiber. The fibrous material will be processed through sol-gel mechanism to turn it into a superabsorbentmaterial. The potential application of the fabricated hydrogels will be tested for bioenergy/energy application asextreme water absorbents for water-bioethanol mixture and greenhouse/agriculture application as a moisturereservoir in the soil. The mechanical, physical and water-absorption performance of the fabricated hydrogelswill be tested and compared with commercial superabsorbents through standard procedures.