Flocculant is a general term for many products, which are divided into two categories: inorganic flocculants and organic flocculants. Inorganic flocculants are the most used. Inorganic flocculants are divided into anionic, cationic, nonionic and zwitterionic types. Polyacrylamide is a type of inorganic flocculant, so we can call polyacrylamide a flocculant, but we cannot call flocculants polyacrylamide.
Flocculants also include aluminum salts, iron salts, polyaluminum chloride, polyferric chloride, polyferric sulfate, etc. These are all flocculants, but they are not as commonly used as polyacrylamide. So to answer from a professional perspective, flocculants and polyacrylamide are different, but in some niche companies, the flocculant is polyacrylamide.
Summary: Flocculants include polyacrylamide, but it is not the only one. Organic flocculants such as polyaluminium chloride can also be called flocculants, so in an imprecise name, flocculants are polyacrylamide. In the professional knowledge system, flocculants and polyacrylamide are different categories.
