Interpenetrating polymer networks in polyvinyl alcohol/cellulose nanocrystals hydrogels to develop absorbent materials

Huiyu Bai; Zhangkang Li; Shengwen Zhang; Wei Wang; Weifu Dong

doi:10.1016/j.carbpol.2018.08.041

Interpenetrating polymer networks in polyvinyl alcohol/cellulose nanocrystals hydrogels to develop absorbent materials

Carbohydr Polym. 2018 Nov 15:200:468-476. doi: 10.1016/j.carbpol.2018.08.041. Epub 2018 Aug 11.

Authors

Huiyu Bai¹, Zhangkang Li², Shengwen Zhang², Wei Wang², Weifu Dong²

Affiliations

¹ Key Laboratory of Synthetic and Biological Colloids, Ministry of Education, School of Chemical and Material Engineering, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214122, China. Electronic address: bhy.chem@163.com.
² Key Laboratory of Synthetic and Biological Colloids, Ministry of Education, School of Chemical and Material Engineering, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214122, China.

PMID: 30177188
DOI: 10.1016/j.carbpol.2018.08.041

Abstract

Polyvinyl alcohol/cellulose nanocrystals/poly(2-Hydroxyethyl methacrylate) (PVA/CNC/polyHEMA) and PVA/CNC/poly(N'-methylenebisacrylamide) (PVA/CNC/polyMBA) hydrogels were prepared by photo-crosslinking followed by freezing/thawing (F-T) cycle and this novel preparation method was reported. The formation of interpenetrating polymer networks (IPN) resulted from the addition of crosslinking HEMA or MBA monomers displayed improved interfacial adhesion. The produced hydrogels were measured by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), real-time fourier transform infrared (RTIR), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), mechanical, swelling and adsorption tests. The results showed both PVA/CNC/polyHEMA with semi-IPN and PVA/CNC/polyMBA with dual network (DN) hydrogels had higher thermal stability, lower water loss rate and better swelling and reswelling and mechanical properties, comparing to PVA and PVA/CNC hydrogels. The adsorption behaviors of hydrogels using xylenol orange (XO) and methylene blue (MB) as model dyes were evaluated, indicating that PVA/CNC/polyHEMA and PVA/CNC/polyMBA hydrogels could hold some dyes. Overall, this work provided a good way for increasing mechanical, swelling, reswelling, thermal, and adsorption properties of PVA/CNC, which will be a promising water-manageable material for agriculture application and a candidate for dye carrier.

Keywords: Cellulose nanocrystals; Hydroxyethyl methacrylate; Interpenetrating polymer networks; N, N'-methylenebisacrylamide; Photo-crosslinking; Polyvinyl alcohol.