Miscibility study of poly acrylamide (PAM) and Acacia Senegal (gum arabic) blends

The work entails the viscometric study of a common plant gum found in Nigeria (Acacia Senegal) blended with polyacrylamide (PAM). The gum was purified after collected and mixed in specific ratios of 10:90, 30:70, 50:50, 70:30 and 90:10 with PAM, before they were subjected to rheological study. The intrinsic, relative and specific viscosity for the bends were determined and presented in the research work. The plots of the relative viscosity against concentration of the gums at different temperature vary significantly at higher concentration, while the viscosity for gum Arabic/PAM (90:10) showed the most distinct variation between different temperatures. The result was found to be agreement with some other similar research in the literature. PAM was found to be more viscose than gum Arabic at both temperatures, while the viscosity index such as intrinsic, specific and relative viscosity for the synergistic combination between the polymers were found to decrease as we increased the composition of gum Arabic within the blend.