Open AccessComparative analysis of the influence of urea additives on the properties of poly(vinyl alcohol) cryogels formed from the polymer solutions in water or dimethylsulfoxide media
Author(s) -
Olga Kolosova
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
iop conference series. materials science and engineering
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1757-899X
pISSN - 1757-8981
DOI - 10.1088/1757-899x/848/1/012035
Subject(s) - vinyl alcohol , polymer , aqueous solution , self healing hydrogels , urea , materials science , chemical engineering , alcohol , polymer chemistry , chemistry , composite material , organic chemistry , engineering
Various poly(vinyl alcohol)-based gels are known for a long time and they are related to the gel materials of significant scientific and applied interests. Among different poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) hydrogels those formed via the so-called cryotropic gelation approach, i.e. PVA cryogels, attract special attention owing to, firstly, simplicity of their preparation and, secondly, very good properties of such matrices. The aim of this work was to compare the physicomechanical properties of PVA cryogels formed from the urea-containing aqueous and dimethylsolfoxide solutions of the polymer. It was shown that not only the solution’s nature influences greatly on the properties of the resultant cryogels, but also the low-molecule additives in the initial polymer solutions lead to the opposite effect in cryogels characteristics. The results of our investigation can expend the area of PVA cryogels usage in many fields.