Additive-free photosynthesis of acrylamide hydrogels initiated with CdS and TiO2 as light visible nano-photocatalysts

Abstract

Hydrogels are three-dimensional polymer networks which can be synthesized by different techniques, such as free-radical addition reaction which is the most well-known technique in functional vinyl monomer polymerization. Photopolymerization, as an attractive technique, has been used in radical polymerization of monomers and has revitalized interest in the idea that it congregates a wide range of economic and ecological expectations. Due to the spatial–temporal control and a mild curing process of polymerization, photoinitiator semiconductor nano-particles offer great advantages, such as effective and quantitative reaction. Cadmium sulfide nanowire, titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanotube, and TiO2 nanowire were used as visible photocatalysts for photopolymerization of acrylamide hydrogel without using any additive under the sunlight and purple LED irradiations. The effects of different synthetic parameters, including initiator type and concentration and type of light sources, were investigated to achieve hydrogels with maximum swelling capacity. The results showed that the swelling of hydrogel reached 80 g water/g hydrogel when the TiO2 nanowire was used as the photoinitiator. The synthesized semiconductors and hydrogels were characterized by X-ray diffractometry, adsorption isotherm, infrared spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, and transmission electron microscopy. According to the results, the new initiators led to semiconductor-based hydrogels, achieved with high swelling property through a high-speed high-efficient photopolymerization reaction in a safe manner.