Superabsorbent polymer was synthesized by using native cassava starch. Cassava starch was chemically modified into poly (starch-g-acrylonitrile) under a grafting copolymerization of acrylonitrile onto the 80°C gelatinized starch via a redox initiation mechanism using Ce(IV) as initiator in an acid medium. In addition to the cassava starch-g-acrylonitrile, a homopolymer of polyacrylonitrile (PAN) was a by-product which was later removed by extraction with dimethyl-formamide.
