Effects of nanocellulose on sodium alginate/polyacrylamide hydrogel: Mechanical properties and adsorption-desorption capacities

Yiying Yue; Xianhui Wang; Jingquan Han; Lei Yu; Jianqiang Chen; Qinglin Wu; Jianchun Jiang

doi:10.1016/j.carbpol.2018.10.105

Effects of nanocellulose on sodium alginate/polyacrylamide hydrogel: Mechanical properties and adsorption-desorption capacities

Carbohydr Polym. 2019 Feb 15:206:289-301. doi: 10.1016/j.carbpol.2018.10.105. Epub 2018 Oct 30.

Authors

Yiying Yue¹, Xianhui Wang², Jingquan Han³, Lei Yu², Jianqiang Chen², Qinglin Wu⁴, Jianchun Jiang⁵

Affiliations

¹ College of Biology and the Environment, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing 210037, Jiangsu, China. Electronic address: yue@njfu.edu.cn.
² College of Biology and the Environment, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing 210037, Jiangsu, China.
³ College of Material Science and Engineering, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing 210037, Jiangsu, China.
⁴ School of Renewable Natural Resources, Louisiana State University Agricultural Center, Baton Rouge 70803, LA, USA.
⁵ College of Chemical Engineering, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing 210037, Jiangsu, China; Institute of Chemical Industry of Forest Products, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Nanjing 210042, Jiangsu, China.

PMID: 30553324
DOI: 10.1016/j.carbpol.2018.10.105

Abstract

In this study, interpenetrating polymer network (IPN)-structured hydrogels were fabricated through the crosslinking of neutral polyacrylamide (PAM, the first flexible network) and the polyelectrolyte sodium alginate (SA, the second rigid network). Three types of nanocellulose, including cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs), bacterial cellulose fibers (BCs) and 2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine-1-oxy radical (TEMPO)-oxidized cellulose nanofibers (TOCNs), were well-dispersed in the SA-PAM gel matrix. The hydrogels, obtained with a high water content (∼83%), exhibit a macroporous structure with a mean pore size of 60 ± 51 μm and high transparency. Comparative studies indicate that BCs are more effective for enhancing the hydrogels due to their higher aspect ratio, and the compressive strength of SA-PAM-BC hydrogel is 6.59 times higher than that of neat SA-PAM. Meanwhile, TOCNs are the best fillers for improving the adsorption capacity owing to the presence of a carboxyl group, and the adsorption capacity of SA-PAM-TOCN is more than 1.3-fold that in SA-PAM. Prepared hydrogels with high mechanical strength and adsorption capacity are advantageous for their applications in wastewater treatments.

Keywords: Adsorption; Hydrogel; Interpenetrating polymer network; Mechanical properties; Nanocellulose; Viscoelasticity.