Polyvinyl alcohol/CuO nanocomposite hydrogels: facile synthesis and long-term stability

Abstract

Within this study, Polyvinyl alcohol/CuO nanocomposite hydrogels were synthesized through dispersing CuO nanoparticles in a PVA solution, using the freeze-thawing procedure in order for physically crosslinking. The average particle size of CuO nanoparticles which was added to the hydrogel was determined as 3.51 nm according to the XRD analysis after the ball milling process. The presence of CuO nanoparticles in nanocomposite hydrogels was determined by UV-vis spectroscopy, FESEM, EDS, and FTIR analysis. Also, the rheological properties of neat hydrogel and PVA/CuO nanocomposite hydrogels were examined. The addition of CuO nanoparticles to the polymer structure develops rheological features of PVA hydrogels. The Effect of CuO content of nanocomposite hydrogels on the swelling behavior and long term stability was investigated. These nanocomposite hydrogels demonstrated unique properties for biomedical applications due to their high swellability at pH 2.1 as the pH values of the stomach and long term stability. According to these results, the addition of CuO to the hydrogel structure improved the swelling characteristics of neat PVA hydrogel.

Enhancement of dispersion stability of inorganic additives via poly(sodium-4- styrenesulfonate) treatment geared to hydrogel applications

“…Table 3 also shows the results of the polymer mass loss experiments for the bare and composite hydrogels with PSS treated filler. During and after reaching the equilibrium swelling, the mass losses occur due to the leaching of the polymer chains and fillers from the network structure [39]. By comparing the initial dry hydrogel mass with the final dried mass at the end of immersion for 15 days, the hydrogel mass loss was determined.…”

Effect of metal oxides added onto polyvinyl alcohol via pulsed underwater plasma on their thermal, electrical and dielectric properties

“…[17][18][19] For improving the optical properties of the composites, lanthanide ions are introduced. 14,15 Different methods are used, such as sol-gel, 10,11 solving casting method, 3,[5][6][7][8][9][20][21][22][23] freeze-thawing procedure, 24 and laser ablation 25 for producing composites on the base of PVA with metal oxides. In all methods, except for laser ablation, metal oxides are synthesized separately, or ready-made ones are added to the polymer.…”