Hold On to That Water! Making Biodegradable Hydrogels
What can engineers do to help solve problems related to water conservation? In this activity, students design methods that concentrate on supplying plants with a steady source of water without the cost or depletion of aquifers caused by using some type of irrigation method. Students develop hydrogels that help to retain soil moisture while being biodegradable and nontoxic.
Initial trial hydrogel that was rehydrated after drying and cutting.Copyright 2022 Christy Miller, University of Houston RET
Water conservation is a world-wide area of concern. This area has a variety of engineering applications from agriculture, individual household, hospitality and recreation. This activity focuses on the agricultural application to reduce the amount of irrigation needed and mitigate the loss of water through evaporation. In addition, the hydrogels for this activity are biodegradable. There are hydrogels that are used currently in potting soils to help retain moisture, but they are not biodegradable. These types of hydrogels would not be suited to agricultural applications since they pose the risk of contaminating aquatic ecosystems.
After this activity, students should be able to:
- Describe the ways the proposed solution decreases the negative effects of human activity on the environment.
- Calculate the amount of water released and reabsorbed by the individual hydrogel formulations.
- Determine which hydrogel formula would be the best solution to retain soil moisture with appropriate reasoning.