Impact of Nanoclay on the pH-Responsiveness and Biodegradable Behavior of Biopolymer-Based Nanocomposite Hydrogels.

Atul Vashist Vashist,Sharif Ahmad,Anujit Ghosal,Madhavan Nair,Ajeet Kaushik,Y K Gupta,Arti Vashist,Atul Vashist

doi:10.3390/gels5040044

Abstract

This research work deployed free radical polymerization for the development of pH-responsive hybrid nanocomposite hydrogels (NCHs) with the formation of improved interpenetrating networks (IPN). The crosslinked biopolymeric system was composed of (chitosan (CH)/guar gum (GG)/polyol) and a nanofiller (Cloisite 30B). The study was aimed to investigate the role of Cloisite 30B as a nanofiller and linseed oil-derived polyol to induce stable interpenetrating networks in chitosan‒guar gum-based hydrogels. FT-IR analysis confirmed the formation of crosslinked networks with the formation of hydrogen bonds in the synthesized NCHs. Thermogravimetric analysis and differential scanning calorimetry revealed high thermal stability of the NCHs. The hydrolytic and soil burial degradation tests confirmed the biodegradability of the synthesized NCHs. An extraordinarily high swelling capacity in a buffer solution of pH 4.0 and 7.4 demonstrated their pH-responsive behavior. It has been demonstrated that even the minimal addition of polyol to the guar gum-based hydrogels has influenced the stability and characteristic features such as high swelling capacity owing to the formation of interpenetrating networks and the biodegradability of the hydrogels.

Highlights

Hydrogels are hydrophilic polymers with three-dimensional structures and a superabsorbent property, showing the uptake of a large number of fluids [1,2]
We have explored the effect of the linseed oil-based polyol using natural polymer hydroxyl ethyl cellulose (HEC) [35], as well as synthetic methyl methacrylate (MMA) [36]
To study the impact of hydrophobic modification and the nanofiller, different concentrations of polyol and cloisite 30B were added to the feed compositions

Summary

Introduction

Hydrogels are hydrophilic polymers with three-dimensional structures and a superabsorbent property, showing the uptake of a large number of fluids [1,2]. The combination of natural polymers with nanofillers and bioactive gives rise to stable nanocomposite hydrogels (NCHs) [8,9,10]. Inspired by the completely new properties and applications of hydrogels, which arise due to the addition of nanoforms such as metal. Hydrogel technology is a rapidly growing field and finds several applications in biomedical applications. The need the hydrogels derived from natural resources has gained enormous attention in recent years since they are biodegradable and have the potential to be used for in vivo applications [24]

Methods

Results

Conclusion