Preparation and Characterization of New Super Absorbent Hydrogels Cross-linked Chemically Suitable for Biomedical Applications

Abstract

The objective of this study is the preparation of new copolymer hydrogels with featured properties such as non-toxic, biocompatible, and biodegradable characteristics that can be used in different biomedical applications. Therefore, the superabsorbent hydrogels were prepared mostly from natural polymers that grafted with synthetic polymers, to improve their mechanical, crystalline, and thermal properties and control the degree of swelling. Six new hydrogels were prepared using chitosan, alginate, and gum Arabic and grafted with starch, poly(ethylene glycol), poly(methyl methacrylate), and polyacrylamide. The hydrogels were characterized using FT-IR, X-ray diffraction, TGA, FESEM, and EDS techniques. All the hydrogels are thermally stable; moreover, the chitosan and alginate hydrogels are semi-crystalline, while gum Arabic hydrogels are amorphous in nature. The FESEM images of the chitosan and alginate hydrogels show rough and undulating surfaces, consisting of homogeneous materials with semi-crystalline sites.
While gum Arabic hydrogels show irregular surfaces containing flakes intertwined with each other, they have dark surfaces without bright areas, providing evidence of amorphous structures.