Synergistic Effect of Hydrogen Bonds and Chemical Bonds to Construct a Starch-Based Water-Absorbing/Retaining Hydrogel Composite Reinforced with Cellulose and Poly(ethylene glycol)

Longfei Gao; Huiyuan Luo; Qian Wang; Guirong Hu; Yuzhu Xiong

doi:10.1021/acsomega.1c05614

Synergistic Effect of Hydrogen Bonds and Chemical Bonds to Construct a Starch-Based Water-Absorbing/Retaining Hydrogel Composite Reinforced with Cellulose and Poly(ethylene glycol)

ACS Omega. 2021 Dec 6;6(50):35039-35049. doi: 10.1021/acsomega.1c05614. eCollection 2021 Dec 21.

Authors

Longfei Gao¹, Huiyuan Luo¹, Qian Wang¹, Guirong Hu¹, Yuzhu Xiong¹

Affiliation

¹ Department of Polymer Materials and Engineering, Guizhou University, Guiyang 550025, P. R. China.

Abstract

The hydrogel prepared by graft copolymerization of starch (ST) and acrylamide (AM) is a commonly used absorbent material; however, due to their irregular network structure and a limited number of hydrophilic groups, starch-based hydrogels have poor water absorption and water retention. To overcome this, here, we provide a new preparation method for starch-based hydrogels. Using cerium ammonium nitrate (CAN) as an initiator, the starch-acrylamide-cellulose (CMC)/poly(ethylene glycol) (S-A-M/PEG) superabsorbent hydrogel was prepared by graft copolymerization. The starch-acrylamide-cellulose/poly(ethylene glycol) hydrogel network is constructed through the synergistic effect of hydrogen bonds and chemical bonds. The experimental results showed that the starch-acrylamide-cellulose/poly(ethylene glycol) superabsorbent hydrogel has a complete network structure that does not easily collapse due to its superior mechanical properties. The water swelling rate reached 80.24 times, and it reached 50.61% water retention after 16 days. This hydrogel has excellent water-absorbing and water-retaining properties, biocompatibility, and degradability, making it useful for further studies in medical, agricultural, and other fields.