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Novel superabsorbent materials from bacterial cellulose
Author(s) -
Chaiyasat Amorn,
Jearanai Sirinard,
Christopher Lew P,
Alam Md Nur
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
polymer international
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.592
H-Index - 105
eISSN - 1097-0126
pISSN - 0959-8103
DOI - 10.1002/pi.5701
Subject(s) - self healing hydrogels , swelling , polyethylene glycol , distilled water , materials science , methacrylate , penetration (warfare) , absorption of water , chemical engineering , cellulose , superabsorbent polymer , bacterial cellulose , glycidyl methacrylate , polymer chemistry , chemistry , copolymer , composite material , chromatography , polymer , operations research , engineering
A novel process for the production of superabsorbent materials (hydrogels) from bacterial cellulose (BC) was developed. Prior to crosslinking with a water‐soluble polyethylene glycol diacrylate (PEGDA), BC was first carboxymethylated and functionalized with glycidyl methacrylate. The degree of crosslinking influenced the swelling properties of the hydrogels. The use of greater amounts of PEGDA enhanced the formation of a thicker macromolecular network containing fewer capillary spaces in the crosslinked gel. The maximum water retention value of the hydrogels containing 2.5–3.5 mmol of carboxyl groups per gram of gel reached 125 g g −1 in distilled water, and 29 g g −1 in saline (0.9% NaCl solution). The highly porous hydrogel architecture with a pore size of 350–600 µm created a high specific surface area. This enables rapid mass penetration in superabsorbent applications. The superabsorbent hydrogels reached 80% of their maximum water absorption capacity in 30 min. © 2018 Society of Chemical Industry