Design and manufacturing of superabsorbent polymers (SAPs) for agriculture in arid areas

Design and manufacturing of superabsorbent polymers (SAPs) for agriculture in arid areas | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Design and manufacturing of superabsorbent polymers (SAPs) for agriculture in arid areas Maysa Muhammad, M. L. Tawfic, Mohamed Taha, Ahmed Elsabbagh This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-5873678/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 09 May, 2025 Read the published version in Scientific Reports → Version 1 posted 8 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Innovative water-saving technologies aim to address the problem of water scarcity in agriculture, which faces significant challenges in solving the problem of agriculture in semi-arid and arid areas. This study specifically focuses on establishing a promising low-cost method to solve water scarcity and agriculture issues in semi-arid and arid areas. The objective of this study is to find an innovative engineering solution to design, manufacture, and produce an engineered product that has the potential to assist and change agriculture in semi-arid and arid areas. Design and manufacture of an innovative engineering product in the form of absorbent tiles (ATs), ATs can absorb and retain large volumes of water, helping to maintain moisture, and consistent moisture levels promote better root growth, and nutrient supply leading to healthier plants and increased crop yields, and reduce the need for frequent irrigation. The study objective was achieved by synthesis of two superabsorbent polymers (SAPs) materials, the synthesis of sodium polyacrylate (hydrogel#1) with five varying cross-linker content (wt.), synthesis of poly (sodium acrylate-co-glycidyl methacrylate) (hydrogel#2) with five varying cross-linker content (wt.), prepare the agriculture residual rice straw (RS) fiber length with three dimensions as a filler, prepare the natural adhesive (NA) solution as a biopolymer backbone, and design and manufacture hydraulic manual press ( test rig). These composites were mixed, compressed, and shaped to design and manufacture two tiles including AT1 (AT-NaPA) and AT2 (AT-AGMA) with different dimensions according to the effect root zone of the plant type to absorb and retain rainwater dew water and reduce irrigation frequency. Furthermore, ATs improve plant growth and nutrient supply under aridity condition and facilitate water conservation. Earth and environmental sciences/Environmental sciences Physical sciences/Engineering Physical sciences/Materials science Superabsorbent polymers (SAPs) Arid Areas Absorboost Tile (AT) Hydrogel synthesis sodium poly acrylate (NaPA) synthesis poly (sodium Acrylate-Co-Glycidyl Methacrylate) (AGMA) rice straw sustainable agriculture Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Published Journal Publication published 09 May, 2025 Read the published version in Scientific Reports → Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Revision requested 02 Apr, 2025 Reviews received at journal 02 Apr, 2025 Reviews received at journal 25 Mar, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 25 Mar, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 24 Mar, 2025 Reviewers invited by journal 24 Mar, 2025 Submission checks completed at journal 21 Mar, 2025 First submitted to journal 20 Mar, 2025 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-5873678","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":433238564,"identity":"9679cad8-4077-45cd-87f5-b5017b911411","order_by":0,"name":"Maysa Muhammad","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Ain Shams University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Maysa","middleName":"","lastName":"Muhammad","suffix":""},{"id":433238565,"identity":"9909dbc2-26ee-48b1-a960-8dd261e74b48","order_by":1,"name":"M. L. 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