A simple route to high-strength hydrogel with an interpenetrating polymer network

作者：Tang Qunwei; Sun Xiaoming; Li Qinghua; Wu Jihuai^*; Lin Jianming; Huang Miaoliang

来源：E-Polymers, 2009, 9(1): 090.

DOI：10.1515/epoly.2009.9.1.1087

Hydrogels have potential applications in many fields, but the poor mechanical strength has limited their further development. In this article, we designed a simple route to high-strength interpenetrating polymer network (IPN) hydrogel from polyacrylamide (PAAm) and poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVOH). The highest tensile strength and elongation were 2.4 Mpa and 4300%, respectively. It was found that the hydrogel strength depended on the chemical crosslinking, physical entanglement and PVOH precipitates. Because of the hydrogen bonding interactions and self-crosslinking, the structure of PVOH transferred from crystal to amorphous. PVOH precipitates scattered in the crosslinked PAAm matrix which dispersed the stress and improved the hydrogel toughness. The simple method is versatile in synthesizing high-strength IPN hydrogels using many kinds of polymer species.

• 出版日期2009-8-2
• 单位华侨大学