PROCESS FOR PRODUCING GRANULAR, WATER-SWELLABLE CROSSLINKED ACRYLIC COPOLYMER, AND ITS USE

摘要

A process for producing a granular, water-swellable crosslinked acrylic copolymer, which comprises copolymerizing in an aqueous medium in the presence of a radical polymerization initiator a monomeric mixture comprising (a) at least one acrylic amide monomer selected from the group consisting of acrylamide, methacrylamide and N-methyl substitution products of these amides and (b) at least one acrylic crosslinkable comonomer selected from the group consisting of N,N min -alkylene- or arylene-bis-acrylamides, N,N min -alkylenebismethacrylamides, alkylenebisacrylates, alkylenebismethacrylates, alkylene glycolbisacrylates, polyalkylene glycol-bisacrylates, alkylene glycol-bismethacrylates and polyalkylene glycol-bismethacrylates, the proportion of the comonomer (b) being 0.01 to 5 moles per 100 moles of the acrylic amide monomer (a), and forming a granular copolymer; and (i) drying the resulting granular copolymer at a temperature of 105 to 150 DEG C, or (ii) heat-treating the resulting granular copolymer in the presence of moisture under substantially sealed conditions at a temperature of 100 to 160 DEG C; and a method of hydroponically growing a plant, which comprises growing the plant in artificial soil composed of a granular, water-swellable crosslinked acrylic copolymer.