Abstract
Hydrogel as a good water absorbent has attracted great research interest. A series of hydrogel based on polyethylene oxide (PEO) and acrylic acid (AAc) was prepared by applying gamma radiation with variation in the concentration of acrylic acid. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were used to characterize the PEO/ AAc hydrogel. The properties of the prepared hydrogels such as gel content, swelling behavior, tensile strength, and pH sensitivity were evaluated. The formation of the hydrogels was confirmed from FTIR spectra. SEM images showed the inner porous structure of the hydrogels. The dose of gamma radiation was optimized to get a hydrogel with good swelling property and mechanical strength. The swelling ratio and gel content of the hydrogels were increased with increasing acrylic acid content. The pH of the solutions affected the swelling which indicated the pH-responsive property of the prepared hydrogels. Swelling of the prepared hydrogels in sodium chloride salt solutions decreased with increasing the ionic strength.
Highlights
Hydrogels are crosslinked three-dimensional polymer networks with the ability to absorb and retain aqueous fluids without dissolving
There are no studies on hydrogel preparation from partially neutralized acrylic acid grafted on Polyethylene oxide (PEO) with high water absorbing capacity by gamma radiation
The calculation for the swelling ratio was done according to the equation proposed by Khoylou et al [25]: Swelling ratio (%) = (Wt − Wd/Wd) × 100 where Wd is the weight of dried gel before swelling and Wt is the weight of the swollen gel at time t
Summary
Hydrogels are crosslinked three-dimensional polymer networks with the ability to absorb and retain aqueous fluids without dissolving. Because of hydrophilic interaction between the networks and water molecules, hydrogels imbibe water and swell [1,2,3] The properties of these soft materials can be improved by grafting or crosslinking of monomers of various functional groups [4]. There are no studies on hydrogel preparation from partially neutralized acrylic acid grafted on PEO with high water absorbing capacity by gamma radiation. A series of pH-sensitive hydrogels have been prepared from high molecular weight polyethylene oxide and acrylic acid monomer by a simple method of radiation polymerization. These hydrogels were characterized by various analytical and microscopic techniques. The effects of pH-sensitive AAc content on different properties were investigated in detail
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