Abstract
We investigated the mechanical and structural properties of composite hydrogels composed of chitosan nanofiber (ChsNF), positively charged alumina-coated silica (ac-SiO2) nanoparticles, carboxylated poly (vinyl alcohol) (cPVA), and borax. ChsNF/cPVA/borax hydrogels without ac-SiO2 exhibited high Young’s modulus but poor elongation, whereas cPVA/ac-SiO2/borax hydrogels without ChsNF had moderate Young’s modulus but high elongation. ChsNF/ac-SiO2/cPVA/borax hydrogels using both ChsNF and ac-SiO2 as reinforcement agents exhibited high extensibility (930%) and high Young′s modulus beyond 1 MPa at a high ac-SiO2 concentration. The network was formed by multiple crosslinking such as the complexation between borate and cPVA, the ionic complexation between ac-SiO2 and cPVA, and the hydrogen bond between ChsNF and cPVA. Structural analysis by synchrotron small-angle X-ray scattering revealed that the nanostructural inhomogeneity in ChsNF/ac-SiO2/cPVA/borax hydrogel was suppressed compared to those of the ChsNF/cPVA/borax and cPVA/ac-SiO2/borax hydrogels.
Highlights
Hydrogels Constructed by MultipleHydrogels composed of biocompatible polymers have attracted numerous researchers and engineers because of potential applications in the biomedical field
Th (a), the Young s modulus E (b), the fracture stress σf (c), and the fracture strain εf (d) havior has often been seen for many composite the increase for chitosan nanofiber (ChsNF)/cPVA/borax hydrogels at different
We investigated the mechanical and structural properties of composite hydrogels using chitosan nanofibers and alumina–coated silica nanoparticles as reinforcing agents and borax as a crosslinker
Summary
Hydrogels composed of biocompatible polymers have attracted numerous researchers and engineers because of potential applications in the biomedical field. Gels 2022, 8, 6 hance the mechanical performance, e.g., mechanically tough composite hydrogels cellulose nanofiber have been developed [9,15,16]. We triedNitta to enhance the mechanical performance the hydrogels the mechanical strength of polyethylene glycol (PEG) hydrogels so that the compressive posed of chitosan and carboxylated poly (vinyl alcohol). We tried to enhance the mechanical performance of the hydrogels composed of chitosan and carboxylated poly (vinyl alcohol) (cPVA). Results and Discussion used ChsNF and positively charged alumina-coated silica nanoparticles (ac-SiO2 ) as reinforcing agents
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