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Sodium alginate (SA)‐based poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) blend films were improved by methyl acrylate (MA) monomer and γ irradiation toward practical application. The films were prepared by a casting method and modified by glycerol (Gol) and mustard oil (MO). The SA‐based films were successfully produced with γ irradiation (12 kGy) with 10% PEO, 15% Gol, 20% MO, and 7% MA on a mass basis as optimized. The tensile strength (TS), tear strength (TT), elongation at break (EB), Young's modulus, moisture content, water vapor permeability (WVP), and structural properties of the blended films were determined. The thermal properties of the films were characterized by thermogravimetric analysis, dynamic mechanical analysis, and differential scanning calorimetry, and the structural features were examined with Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The ultimate results of this study show a rather remarkable enhancement in the tensile properties (30% TS and 67% TT) and reduction in EB (40%) of the SA‐based films with MA addition and γ irradiation. The as‐prepared SA‐based films demonstrated considerable reductions in the moisture content and WVP and also conferred a desired stability of the films. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2016, 133, 43562.

The present article describes the synthesis and characterization of bi-component polymer systems based on gelatin films incorporated with 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA) monomer, developed for medical application. Gelatin films were prepared by the addition of HEMA of different concentrations (0-30 wt.%) and irradiated with various radiation doses (0-5 kGy). Tensile strength and tear strength of the irradiated gelatin films were found to increase with increasing HEMA up to 20 wt.% as well as radiation doses (1 kGy) as optimized. The maximum tensile and tear strengths of irradiated gelatin films with HEMA were found to be 79.1 MPa and 83.2 N/mm, respectively, at the optimum conditions, and these values were about double that of a reference film prepared without additives. In addition, morphological analysis was done by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and showed how HEMA cemented and was covered with gelatin in the blend. Thermomechanical analysis was carried out to investigate the shifting of glass transition temperature (T g ) towards higher temperature due to HEMA addition, and the effect of this film was tested on the human body in order to determine whether it can be applied for medical purposes.