Effect of Glycerol on the Properties of the Cross‐Linked Polyvinyl Alcohol Hydrogel Beads

Abstract

Poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA)/glycerol hydrogel beads were created, using saturated boric acid and calcium chloride solution as the chemical crosslinking agents. The structure and properties of the PVA/glycerol hydrogel beads were studied. The results indicated that glycerol could improved the water absorption rate and the swelling rate at equilibrium. Also improved were the capillary water absorption capacity and the permeability of the PVA/glycerol hydrogel beads. The rheological tests showed that glycerol was able to improve the effective crosslinking density of the hydrogel beads. The amount of total water of the PVA/glycerol hydrogel beads slightly increased upon the addition of glycerol.

Poly(vinyl alcohol) Hydrogels: The Old and New Functional Materials

“…For PVA, chemical crosslinkers could form chemical crosslinking points between PVA molecules to form gels (Figure 2(b)). Commonly used crosslinkers include epichlorohydrin, boric acid, aldehydes, and heavy metal compounds that form complexes with PVA molecules [24][25][26][27]. The chemically crosslinking reaction is rapid, but nonuniform crosslinking structures often occur due to the inhomogeneous dispersion of the crosslinkers.…”

Tunable Physicochemical and Bactericidal Activity of Multicarboxylic‐Acids‐Crosslinked Polyvinyl Alcohol Membrane for Food Packaging Applications

“…This is due to the reason that the hydroxyl functional group present in PVA and Citric acid all together, interact more effectively and increases the activity of a film. Therefore, the film plays a key role as an environmentally preferred material and protects the food products from environmental hazards . The synthesized PVA/CA film possesses the best quality for active food packaging applications.…”

An Eco‐Friendly Polyvinyl Alcohol/Graphene Oxide‐Based Hydrogel as a Methylene Blue Adsorbent

“…[12,15] Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), as a synthetic and non-toxic polymer with good mechanical properties and biocompatibility, can form a hydrogel through a freeze-thawing method. [12,16] However, functional groups in the frozen molecule chains are not abundant, limiting the PVA hydrogel application as a dye adsorbent. Graphene oxide (GO) is an excellent candidate to enhance the amount of surface functional groups in PVA-based composites used in wastewater treatment due to its high surface area with a high level of oxidized agents.…”

“…Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), as a synthetic and non‐toxic polymer with good mechanical properties and biocompatibility, can form a hydrogel through a freeze‐thawing method [12,16] . However, functional groups in the frozen molecule chains are not abundant, limiting the PVA hydrogel application as a dye adsorbent.…”