Improved mechanical strength of p(AAm) interpenetrating hydrogel network due to microgranular cellulose embedding

Here, polyacrylamide [p(AAm)]-based hydrogels were synthesized via redox polymerization technique in the presence of various amounts of microgranular cellulose (MGCell) such as 0, 10, 25, 50, 100, and 150 mg MGCell/g. The synthesized p(AAm)MGCell interpenetrating hydrogels were characterized spectroscopically by FTIR, thermally by TGA analysis, and mechanically via dynamic mechanical measurements. Furthermore, the effect of the amount of MGCell in p(AAm) hydrogels on swelling% (S%) degree and mechanical strength was investigated. It was found that the S% was decreased from 727 +/- 9 to 667 +/- 6, 642 +/- 8 and 619 +/- 10, 568 +/- 6 for p(AAm)-MGCell interpenetrating network hydrogels containing 10, 50, 100, and 150 mg MGCell, respectively. On the other hand, the Young modulus of p(AAm)-based hydrogels increased from 2.8 +/- 0.2 kPa to 3.1 +/- 0.03, 3.4 +/- 0.1, 3.6 +/- 0.3 and 4.3 +/- 0.3 kPa with the incorporation of 10, 50, 100, and 150 mg MGCell into p(AAm) hydrogels. (C) 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.