Carbon nanotube‐hybridized supramolecular hydrogel based on PEO‐b‐PPO‐b‐PEO/α‐cyclodextrin as a potential biomaterial

In virtue of the potential biomedical application of carbon nanotube (CNT), the CNT was hybridized into a supramolecular hydrogel based on the selective inclusion of α‐cyclodextrin (α‐CD) onto poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) segments of a triblock copolymer, i.e., PEO‐block‐poly(propylene oxide)‐block‐PEO. Different from the previous report, the content of α‐CD, in contrast to that of ethylene oxide unit, was decreased to decrease the network density in hydrogel and hence improve the diffusion of encapsulated substances. As a result, the modulus of the hydrogels climbed slightly after introducing CNT. Furthermore, as the essential properties for wound dressing, the antimicrobial activity, the skin‐adhesion, and water‐retention of such supramolecular hybrid hydrogels were also verified. On the other hand, the supramolecular hybrid hydrogels inherited the shear‐thinning property and are suitable as an injectable biomaterial. The cell viability assay confirmed the equivalent cytotoxicity of the supramolecular hybrid hydrogels to that of the native hydrogels without CNT. Consequently, such CNT‐hybridized supramolecular hydrogel shows a great potential in the biomedical application. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2010     

Modified chitosan as a polymeric nanoreactor for fabrication of pure ZnO nano particles

ZnO nanoparticles have been prepared successfully by hydrogel decomposition method (HDM). Synthesized ZnO nanoparticles were characterized by X‐ray diffraction (XRD), fourier transforms infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and transition electron microscopy (TEM) techniques. Narrow distribution of sizes with a 20–30 nm diameter and regular distribution of ZnO nanoparticles are attributed to the application of poly(acrylic acid‐co‐acrylamide) grafted chitosan hydrogel as coating agent. The results show that the polymer thermal decomposition technique is a perfect method for the synthesis of ZnO nanoparticles. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2010     

层状壳聚糖水凝胶的制备与性能

通过两步低温辐射和冷冻/解冻循环相结合的方法制备聚乙烯醇/聚氧乙烯(PVA/PEO)为基层,聚乙烯醇/壳聚糖(PVA/CS)为上层抗菌功能层的层状壳聚糖水凝胶。通过对吸收剂量、电子束流、聚合物溶液浓度等的研究确定最佳制备工艺,并通过溶胀性能、力学性能、抗菌性能及红外光谱和扫描电镜表征所得层状水凝胶的结构与性能。结果表明,该方法制备的层状壳聚糖水凝胶具有明显的层状结构,层间结合紧密,壳聚糖结构未改变;层状水凝胶的溶胀性能随着壳聚糖含量增大而逐渐增大,60%CS含量平衡溶胀度达到2 200%;层状水凝胶力学强度随着壳聚糖含量增加而先增大后减小,40%CS含量下层状水凝胶从PVA/PEO凝胶的0.35MPa提高到0.47 MPa;抗菌性能测试表明层状水凝胶对大肠杆菌和金黄色葡萄球菌均具有明显的抑菌效果,抑菌性能随着壳聚糖含量的提高而增大。     

水凝胶模板制备纳米TiO2及微流控合成TiO2微球

以聚丙烯酰胺丙烯酸和聚乙二醇/聚丙烯酸两种水凝胶作为模板, 丙烯酸做抑制剂合成纳米颗粒。水凝胶的缓慢吸水和网络结构, 减缓了钛酸四丁酯的水解速率, 并抑制TiO₂的颗粒长大, 制备出的TiO₂纳米粉粒径分布窄, 且为锐钛矿相结构。对比研究发现, 聚乙二醇/聚丙烯酸水凝胶的吸水膨胀率更小, 前驱体溶液的稳定性更高。选用聚乙二醇/聚丙烯酸前驱体溶液, 采用微流控技术制备TiO₂微球, 制备出的微球具有球形度好、单分散的优点, 焙烧后TiO₂的晶体结构为锐钛矿。     

Polypropylene composite hollow fiber ultrafiltration membranes with an acrylic hydrogel surface by in situ ultrasonic wave-assisted polymerization for dye removal

In this study, polypropylene composite hollow fiber membrane with an acrylic hydrogel layer was fabricated successfully by in situ ultrasonic wave-assisted polymerization. The ultrasonic irradiation can significantly improve the grafting efficiency of acrylic acid on the membrane surface. The modified membranes were characterized on the basis of physicochemical characteristics, permeation performance and antifouling property. The results revealed that the pure water flux of modified membranes was significantly increased when the graft density was lower than 0.82 mg cm⁻², due to the improvement of hydrophilicity. Interestingly, the optimized membrane PPM1.49 could efficiently remove organic dyes from aqueous solution, showing retentions of 99.5 and 98.7% to Congo red and methylthionine chloride, respectively. Meanwhile, its flux recovery ratio was elevated from 68.0 to 92.0% using bovine serum albumin aqueous solution as a foulant compared with the pristine membrane. These promising results indicate that modified membranes developed in this study are potentially applicable for dye removal from wastewater. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2019 , 136, 47099.     

Silicon dioxide/poly(vinyl alcohol) composite hydrogels with high mechanical properties and low swellability

Poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) hydrogels with tissue-like viscoelasticity, excellent biocompatibility, and hydrophilicity have been considered as promising cartilage replacement materials. However, the low mechanical properties of pure PVA hydrogels limit their applications for bearing complicated loads. Herein, we report silicon dioxide (SiO₂)/PVA composite hydrogels fabricated by fabricated cyclically freezing/thawing the aqueous mixture of PVA and methyltrimethoxysilane (MTMS). MTMS hydrolyzes and forms SiO₂ particles in situ to reinforce PVA hydrogel. Meanwhile, silanol group condenses with hydroxyl groups of PVA and chemically bonds with PVA. The resulting SiO₂/PVA hydrogels exhibit much better mechanical properties than bare PVA hydrogel. In addition, the composite hydrogels keep very low swellable property. This prepared composite hydrogels are promising in a variety of biomedical applications such as artificial articular cartilage, drug delivery, and biosensors. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2019 , 136, 46895.     

Efficient photo-catalytic hydrogen production performance and stability of a three-dimensional porous CdS NPs-graphene hydrogel

We designed a novel CdS nanoparticles composite graphene hydrogel. Under sunlight, the CdS nanoparticles (NPs) -reduced graphene oxide hydrogel (rGH) had the highest hydrogen production rate of 6.44 mmol/g, which is 1.3 times that of CdS nanoparticles (5.12 mmol/g) and 1.4 times that of CdS (4.6 mmol/g). The enhanced photo-catalytic activity can be attributed to several positive factors such as the formation of composite hydrogels and the quantum size effect of the CdS nanoparticles nanomaterials. The formation of the composite hydrogel improves the specific surface area of the catalyst and increases the active site on the catalyst surface. The quantum size effects of the CdS nanoparticles effectively reduce the recombination probability of electrons and holes. The close contact between the CdS nanoparticles and the graphene gel can effectively separate photo-generated electrons and holes via the unique large π-bond structure of graphene. These positive factors effectively improve the photocatalytic activity of composite materials for water decomposition. In addition, recovery experiments show a composite catalyst recovery rate of up to 95%. The results show that the composite photo-catalyst can effectively avoid secondary pollution during photo-catalytic hydrogen production. This eliminates powder recovery problems. The hydrogen production efficiency of the catalyst remains unchanged after 5 cycles indicating that the formation of the gel system stabilizes the catalyst and inhibits light corrosion of CdS nanoparticles.     

A redox poly(ionic liquid) hydrogel: Facile method of synthesis and electrochemical sensing

In this article, a redox-responsive poly(ionic liquid) (redox-PIL) hydrogel Poly(1-vinyl-3-propionate imidazole phenothiazine sulfonic acid)-chitosan [Poly(VPI⁺PTZ-(CH₂)₃SO₃⁻)-CS] was produced by using chitosan (CS) crosslinking with redox-PIL Poly(1-vinyl-3-propionate imidazole phenothiazine sulfonic acid [Poly(VPI⁺PTZ-(CH₂)₃SO₃⁻)]. The incorporation of redox-active counter anions 3-(phenothiazine-10-yl) propane 1-sulfonic acid anions (PTZ-(CH₂)₃SO₃⁻) into cationic PIL-polyimidazole rendered Poly(VPI⁺PTZ-(CH₂)₃SO₃⁻) with electron catalytic ability, ionic conductivity, and electron conductivity. Poly(VPI⁺PTZ-(CH₂)₃SO₃⁻)-CS combines the properties of hydrogel and redox-PIL, thus offering intrinsic porous conducting frameworks and promoting the transport of charges, ions, and molecules, leading hydrogel with excellent electrochemical properties. The crosslinking occurrence of Poly(VPI⁺PTZ-(CH₂)₃SO₃⁻) and CS resulting from the synthetic process of hydrogel was verified by differential scanning calorimetry and thermogravimetric analysis. A three-dimensional polymer network hydrogel with good biocompatibility and permeability was formed after crosslinking. In addition, only 64% weight loss within 600 °C was observed in Poly(VPI⁺PTZ-(CH₂)₃SO₃⁻)-CS representing its thermally stable performance. When used as an electrochemical sensor, the hydrogel-modified gold electrode improved the electrocatalytic oxidation of cysteine. Differential pulse voltammetry results indicated that the detection range was from 5 × 10⁻⁸ to 5 × 10⁻³ M and the limit of detection was 6.64 × 10⁻⁸ M. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2019 , 136, 48051.     

Preparation and Characterization of Temperature‐Sensitive Poly(Styrene‐Butadiene‐Styrene)/Poly(N‐Isopropylacrylamide) Hydrogel Elastomer with Interpenetrating Polymeric Networks

A poly(styrene‐butadiene‐styrene)/poly(N‐isopropylacrylamide) (SBS/PNIPAM) hydrogel elastomer with interpenetrating polymeric network structure is prepared by using solution free radical polymerization in benzene/tetrahydrofuran solvent mixture. The characterizations of hydrogel elastomers are investigated by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscope, rheology, equilibrium swelling studies, and oscillatory swelling study. Results show that these hydrogel elastomers exhibit a temperature‐sensitivity inherited from PNIPAM component at the temperature around 30 °C. Besides, change with tetrahydrofuran to different proportion in solvent mixtures, constituent, and properties as gel content, swelling capacity, mechanical strength and volume phase transition degree are affected deeply.     

The effect of lens wear on refractive index of conventional hydrogel and silicone-hydrogel contact lenses: a comparative study.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this work was to evaluate the ability of four silicone-hydrogel contact lenses (galyfilcon A, balafilcon A, lotrafilcon A and lotrafilcon B) to retain their equilibrium water content before and after wear, through measurements of refractive index and compare with that of a conventional disposable hydrogel contact lens (etafilcon A). METHODS: The refractive indices of 115 contact lenses were measured using an automated refractometer (CLR 12-70, Index Instruments, Cambridge, U.K.) before and after a schedule of daily wear by 58 patients for 30 days in the case of silicone-hydrogel lenses and 15 days for the conventional contact lenses. RESULTS: In the silicone-hydrogel contact lenses the changes on the refractive indices were not statistically significant, however after being worn the refractive index of the conventional etalfilcon A hydrogel contact lens increased significantly (p<0.001). CONCLUSION: The results presented here show that after being worn the silicone-hydrogel contact lens, show more capacity to retain or to reach their initial equilibrium water content than conventional hydrogel contact lenses. This suggests that the silicone-hydrogel contact lenses are less susceptible to spoilation over time maintaining its biocompatibility and contributing to the clinical success of lens performance.