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Hydrogels Prepared from Unsubstituted Cellulose in NaOH/Urea Aqueous Solution
Author(s) -
Zhou Jinping,
Chang Chunyu,
Zhang Ruping,
Zhang Lina
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
macromolecular bioscience
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.924
H-Index - 105
eISSN - 1616-5195
pISSN - 1616-5187
DOI - 10.1002/mabi.200700007
Subject(s) - self healing hydrogels , epichlorohydrin , cellulose , aqueous solution , swelling , chemistry , distilled water , urea , polymer chemistry , chemical engineering , absorption of water , organic chemistry , materials science , chromatography , composite material , engineering
Novel cellulose hydrogels were synthesized through a “one‐step” method from cellulose, which was dissolved directly in NaOH/urea aqueous solution, by using epichlorohydrin as crosslinker. Structure and properties of the hydrogels were characterized by using SEM, NMR, and water absorption testing. The hydrogels are fully transparent and display macroporous inner structure. The equilibrium swelling ratios of the hydrogels in distilled water at 25 °C are in the range from 30 to 60 g H 2 O/g dry hydrogel. Moreover, the reswelling water uptake of the hydrogels could be achieved to more than 70% compared with their initial swelling states. This work provided a simple and fast method for preparing eco‐friendly hydrogels from unsubstituted cellulose.