Self-healing stimuli-responsive cellulose nanocrystal hydrogels

Juntao Tang; Muhammad Umar Javaid; Chunyue Pan; Guipeng Yu; Richard M Berry; Kam Chiu Tam

doi:10.1016/j.carbpol.2019.115486

Self-healing stimuli-responsive cellulose nanocrystal hydrogels

Carbohydr Polym. 2020 Feb 1:229:115486. doi: 10.1016/j.carbpol.2019.115486. Epub 2019 Oct 16.

Authors

Juntao Tang¹, Muhammad Umar Javaid², Chunyue Pan², Guipeng Yu², Richard M Berry³, Kam Chiu Tam⁴

Affiliations

¹ College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Central South University, Changsha, 410083, China. Electronic address: Reynard.tangjuntao@gmail.com.
² College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Central South University, Changsha, 410083, China.
³ CelluForce, Inc., 625 President-Kennedy Ave., Montreal, Quebec, H3A 1K2, Canada.
⁴ Department of Chemical Engineering, Waterloo Institute for Nanotechnology, University of Waterloo, 200 University Avenue West, Waterloo, ON, N2L 3G1, Canada. Electronic address: mkctam@uwaterloo.ca.

PMID: 31826484
DOI: 10.1016/j.carbpol.2019.115486

Abstract

A facile and universal approach to prepare cellulose nanocrystal reinforced functional hydrogels is proposed. An organic solvent-free and eco-friendly method was adopted, where both the modification and polymerization were conducted in an aqueous solution. Cellulose nanocrystal (CNC) and sodium alginate (SA) were first oxidized under mild conditions to introduce aldehyde groups. Subsequently, amine-containing vinyl functionalized monomers were introduced to the surface of CNC or backbone of oxidized SA via a dynamic Schiff-base reaction. The bio-based hydrogels were then prepared via a one-pot in-situ polymerization, where the functional CNC and SA served as novel macro-cross-linkers that contributed to the structural integrity and mechanical stability of the hydrogels. The hydrogels displayed uniform chemical and macroscopic structures and could self-heal within several hours at room temperature. The design of specific monomers will allow the introduction of stimuli-responsive properties to the functional hydrogels and a chemically robust thermally-triggered actuator was demonstrated. Due to its flexible design and practical approach, the hydrogels could find potential uses in agricultural and pharmaceutical products.

Keywords: Cellulose nanocrystal; Hydrogel; Self-healing; Stimuli responsive.