Abstract
Although they have potential environmental pollution issues, soft contact lenses are value-added biodevices for medical use. Thus, it is important to reconsider starting materials and production methods to achieve sustainable development. In this study, hydrogels composed of hydroxypropyl cellulose (HPC) as an environmentally friendly material were produced by radiation and investigated for use in disposable soft contact lenses. HPC-based hydrogels with good mechanical properties and transparency were prepared by irradiation of electron beams on highly concentrated aqueous solutions containing HPC, polyethylene glycol #1000 dimethacrylate (23G), and 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA). The addition of 23G to HPC aqueous solutions resulted in an increase in the gel fraction as well as improved mechanical properties, such as tensile strength and elongation at break. The tensile strength and the elongation at break of HPC/HEMA/23G hydrogel obtained by the further addition of HEMA with HPC/23G aqueous solutions exhibited 0.2 MPa and 124%, which were approximately 2.0 and 1.8 times larger than these of the pure HPC hydrogel, respectively. The evaluation of the properties of the HPC/HEMA/23G hydrogel demonstrated its potential as a soft contact material with improved mechanical properties.
Highlights
When a mixture of polysaccharide derivatives and water is irradiated with quantum beams, such as electron beams and γ-rays, decomposition and crosslinking reactions of polysaccharide derivatives occur simultaneously [19]
The hydrogels obtained by irradiating concentrated aqueous solutions of carboxymethyl of carboxymethyl cellulose or carboxymethyl chitosan are highly water-absorbent and cellulose or carboxymethyl chitosan are highly water-absorbent and transparent
hydroxypropyl cellulose (HPC)-based hydrogels were prepared by electron beam irradiation of highly concentrated aqueous solutions containing HPC, 23G, and hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA)
Summary
Recent studies have focused on the contamination of aquatic and terrestrial environments because of disposable soft contact lenses [1,2]. Silicone-based hydrogels are the most common soft contact lens material, accounting for approximately 64% of the US market [3]. Silicone soft contact lenses are highly durable and have a higher modulus of elasticity than conventional polymer hydrogels They have been reported not to degrade in chemical or biological treatments, they physically break down and become smaller in sewage treatment plants. N-vinyl pyrrolidone, which are used in commercially available contact lenses, have the to objective producing a sustainable society, the use of environmentally been With reported increaseof protein deposition. Been developed using a reaction in transparent (HPC) gels developed using a reaction in transparent hydroxypropyl cellulose (HPC) gels friendly [22,23] Based on these findings, we developed hydrogels for fabricating environmentally friendly soft contact lenses using radiation processing techniques.
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