Rapid shape memory TEMPO-oxidized cellulose nanofibers/polyacrylamide/gelatin hydrogels with enhanced mechanical strength

Nan Li; Wei Chen; Guangxue Chen; Junfei Tian

doi:10.1016/j.carbpol.2017.04.035

Rapid shape memory TEMPO-oxidized cellulose nanofibers/polyacrylamide/gelatin hydrogels with enhanced mechanical strength

Carbohydr Polym. 2017 Sep 1:171:77-84. doi: 10.1016/j.carbpol.2017.04.035. Epub 2017 Apr 20.

Authors

Nan Li¹, Wei Chen², Guangxue Chen³, Junfei Tian⁴

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory of Pulp and Paper Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510640, China. Electronic address: lilylinan@foxmail.com.
² College of Engineering, Qufu Normal University, RiZhao 276826, China. Electronic address: chenwei@qfnu.edu.cn.
³ State Key Laboratory of Pulp and Paper Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510640, China. Electronic address: chengx@scut.edu.cn.
⁴ State Key Laboratory of Pulp and Paper Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510640, China. Electronic address: jftian_scut@163.com.

PMID: 28578973
DOI: 10.1016/j.carbpol.2017.04.035

Abstract

TEMPO-oxidized cellulose nanofibers/polyacrylamide/gelatin shape memory hydrogels were successfully fabricated through a facile in-situ free-radical polymerization method, and double network was formed by chemically cross-linked polyacrylamide (PAM) network and physically cross-linked gelatin network. TEMPO-oxidized cellulose nanofibers (TOCNs) were introduced to improve the mechanical properties of the hydrogel. The structure, shape memory behaviors and mechanical properties of the resulting composite gels with varied gel compositions were investigated. The results obtained from those different studies revealed that TOCNs, gelatin, and PAM could mix with each other homogeneously. Due to the thermoreversible nature of the gelatin network, the composite hydrogels exhibited attractive thermo-induced shape memory properties. In addition, good mechanical properties (strength >200kPa, strain >650%) were achieved. Such composite hydrogels with good shape memory behavior and enhanced mechanical strength would be an attractive candidate for a wide variety of applications.

Keywords: Gelatin; Hydrogels; Mechanical properties; Shape memory; TEMPO-oxidized cellulose nanofibers (TOCNs).