Fabrication of cellulose nanocrystal reinforced nanocomposite hydrogel with self-healing properties

Xinxin Liu; Kexin Yang; Minmin Chang; Xiaohui Wang; Junli Ren

doi:10.1016/j.carbpol.2020.116289

Fabrication of cellulose nanocrystal reinforced nanocomposite hydrogel with self-healing properties

Carbohydr Polym. 2020 Jul 15:240:116289. doi: 10.1016/j.carbpol.2020.116289. Epub 2020 Apr 22.

Authors

Xinxin Liu¹, Kexin Yang², Minmin Chang³, Xiaohui Wang⁴, Junli Ren⁵

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory of Pulp and Paper Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510640, China. Electronic address: lxx19910312@163.com.
² State Key Laboratory of Pulp and Paper Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510640, China. Electronic address: ykexin@mail.ustc.edu.cn.
³ State Key Laboratory of Pulp and Paper Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510640, China. Electronic address: 18322532189@163.com.
⁴ State Key Laboratory of Pulp and Paper Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510640, China. Electronic address: fewangxh@scut.edu.cn.
⁵ State Key Laboratory of Pulp and Paper Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510640, China. Electronic address: renjunli@scut.edu.cn.

PMID: 32475570
DOI: 10.1016/j.carbpol.2020.116289

Abstract

High strength and self-healing properties of hydrogels are of great interest in tissue engineering and biomedical fields. In this paper, nanocomposite hydrogels were prepared by freeze-thaw cycle method via fabricating physical cross-links into chemical-crosslinked formed polymer network. The properties of nanocomposite hydrogels were characterized by FTIR, XRD, SEM, rheological analysis, swelling analysis and mechanical test. The results showed that the electrostatic interaction between CNC and QAX and the high amount of PVA (20 wt%) were favorable to improve the mechanical properties of nanocomposite hydrogels, in which the maximum compressive strength and elongation at break of nanocomposite hydrogels were 1.56 MPa and 771 %, respectively. Prepared hydrogels achieved self-healing without any external stimuli at room temperature with the help of hydrogen bonds and the entanglement of long polymer chains, the healing efficiency was 37.03 % within 48 h. These hydrogels with high strength and self-healing properties will offer new insights for xylan application.

Keywords: Cellulose nanocrystals; Nanocomposite hydrogels; Polyvinyl alcohol; Quaternary ammonium xylan; Self-healing property.

MeSH terms

Cellulose / chemistry*
Hydrogels / chemistry*
Nanocomposites / chemistry*
Nanoparticles / chemistry*
Polyvinyl Alcohol / chemistry
Quaternary Ammonium Compounds / chemistry*
Xylans / chemistry*

Substances

Hydrogels
Quaternary Ammonium Compounds
Xylans
Polyvinyl Alcohol
Cellulose