Characterization of superabsorbent carboxymethylcellulose/clay hydrogel prepared by electron beam irradiation

Abstract

Hydrogels for this study were prepared from a mixture of carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) and different concentration of clay using freezing and thawing cycles followed by electron beam irradiation. The introduction of montmorillonite (MMT) up to 4% leads to an increase in the gel fraction and an improvement in water resistance indicating that the clay is well dispersed within the polymer matrix. Their swelling (%) of the hydrogel in distilled water and different physiological fluids, such as physiological saline water and synthetic urine, were evaluated. These results suggest that the maximum swelling (%) in water reached 3559% compared to the dry hydrogels but still maintained its steady appearance. Moreover, the hydrogels exhibited smart swelling and shrinking in NaCl and synthetic urine. The surface morphology and thermal properties of these hydrogels were characterized by scanning electron microscopy and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The ability of the prepared hydrogel to absorb and retain a large amount of water and simulated urine was measured. The results suggested the possible use of CMC/ MMT composite hydrogels in the personal care product industry.

Enhanced Absorbent Products Incorporating Cellulose and Its Derivatives: A Review

“…There is an interesting parallel between the effects of spacers and the effects of certain very fine mineral products, which were mentioned earlier (Pourjavadi et al 2008;Zhang et al 2008b;2009;Wang et al , 2011aEl Salmawi and Ibrahim 2011). Such nano-minerals, if poorly adhered to the adjacent polymeric material, can be expected to allow the opening up of fluid-filled spaces within the hydrogel.…”

“…As one might expect based on environmental concerns, many researchers have investigated the preparation of "all-natural-based" hydrogels incorporating cellulose or its derivatives (Harsh and Gehrke 1991;Barbucci et al 2000;Bin et al 2000;Fei et al 2000;Wach et al 2001Wach et al , 2002Hirsh and Spontak 2002;Liu et al 2002Liu et al , 2005aRodriguez et al 2003;Sannino et al 2003Sannino et al , 2004aSannino and Nicolais 2005;Yoshimura et al 2006;Demitri et al 2008;Faroongwang and Sukonrat 2008;Pourjavadi et al 2008Pourjavadi et al , 2010Chang et al 2009Chang et al , 2010Dai and Kadla 2009;El Salmawi and Ibrahim 2011;Salam et al 2011a,b;Wang et al 2011b;Kono and Fujita 2012;Pan and Ragauskas 2012;. For instance, a hydrogel based on a combination of cellulose and CMC can be prepared from a solution of the ingredients in a NaOH/urea solvent system .…”

“…"nanoclay", or other finely divided minerals have been added to the formulation during the preparation of SAPs (Pourjavadi and Ghasemzadeh 2006;Pourjavadi et al 2008;Dai and Kadla 2009;Zhang et al 2008b;2009;Wang et al , 2011aAnirudhan et al 2011;Bao et al 2011;Chang and Zhang 2011;El Salmawi and Ibrahim 2011;Kabiri et al 2011). In some cases the inclusion of nano-sized mineral particles during hydrogel preparation yielded a substantial increase in water absorption capacity (Pourjavadi et al 2008;Zhang et al 2008b;2009;Wang et al , 2011aEl Salmawi and Ibrahim 2011), whereas in some other cases the nanominerals tended to suppress absorbency (Pourjavadi and Ghasemzadeh 2006;Dai and Kadla 2009). A possible mechanism to account for the enhancement of absorption, in the cases indicated, could be a debonding effect, allowing pools of fluid to occupy openings that are made available by poor bonding of the adjacent SAP material to a suitably sized mineral surface.…”

Preparation and swelling behavior of moisture‐absorbing polyurethane films impregnated with superabsorbent sodium polyacrylate particles

“…However, these type of traditional synthesis methods generally require expensive equipment and need a long reaction time. Recently, new methods for producing superabsorbent polymers have been developed, and these methods include the use of γ‐rays, ultraviolet (UV) radiation or other high‐energy radiation . Of these methods, that using UV radiation is simple, can be used to prepare the product with a shorter reaction time, and results in a superabsorbent polymer with an improved swelling capacity and swelling rate.…”

Novel multifunctional colloidal carbohydrate nanofiber electrolytes with excellent conductivity and responses to bone cancer cells

“…CMC with a high degree of substitution of carboxyl groups and, therefore, a higher acid number, is a pH-responsive polyelectrolyte with a pK a around 3-4 (Philipp, Heinze, Klemm, Wagenknecht & Heinze, 1998). In another study a water solution of CMC/MMT clay mixture was crosslinked with N,N′-methylene-bis-acrylamide (MBA) by ebeam irradiation (El Salmawi & Ibrahim, 2011). The hydrogels prepared exhibited smart swelling and shrinking behaviours and were sensitive to aqueous solutions of inorganic salts.…”