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Biocompatible Cellulose-Based Superabsorbents for Personal Care Products

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Abstract

Personal care products are an inseparable part of urban society, but the widespread use of petroleum-based superabsorbent polymers (SAPs) poses significant environmental negative impact. To overcome this problem, we investigated the development of cellulose-based hydrogels through di-epoxide chemical crosslinking of cellulose/cellulose electrolytes in NaOH/Urea aqueous system. The aim was to exploit mechanical strength, hydrophilicity, non-toxicity, and biodegradability of cellulose as the absorbent core of personal hygiene products through a simple synthesis method. The synthesized cellulose materials significantly improved the absorption capacity of the gels by 220%, reaching up to 41 g/g. The absorption properties were influenced by the cellulose DS, crosslinking density, and fluid salinity. The hydrogels demonstrated a remarkable absorption capacity of synthetic urine (27 g/g) and underload conditions (12 g/g). Their non-cytotoxic and biodegradable nature showed their potential for the manufacturing of personal care products such as disposable diapers or daily pads.

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Acknowledgements

This research was funded by FEDER through the program COMPETE – Programa Operacional Factores de Competitividade, FCT – Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia, CEMMPRE (UID/EMS/00285/2020) and ARISE (LA/P/0112/2020). NMR data was collected at the UC-NMR facility which is supported in part by FEDER through the COMPETE Programme and by FCT – Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia through grants REEQ/481/QUI/2006-RECI/QEQ-QFI/0168/2012, CENTRO-07-CT62-FEDER-002012, and Rede Nacional de Ressonância Magnética Nuclear (RNRRMN). Authors acknowledge Ricardo Almeida for intrinsic viscosity measurement. Rafael C. Rebelo acknowledges to FCT for the funding of his research degree grant 2021.08025.BD, Blanca V. Báguena to mobility program Erasmus+ for the financial support of her mission at University of Coimbra and Rui Moreira to FEDER for the financial support of his postdoc fellowship within the scope of the HIGH2RPAPER-POCI-01-0247-FEDER-049716 research project.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. CEMMPRE, ARISE, Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Coimbra, Rua Sílvio Lima-Polo II, Coimbra, 3030-790, Portugal

    Rafael C. Rebelo, Blanca Vélez Báguena, Patrícia Pereira, Rui Moreira, Jorge F. J. Coelho & Arménio C. Serra

  2. Departamento de Ingeniería Química y Tecnologías del Medio Ambiente (IQTMA), Universidad de Zaragoza, Zaragoza, Spain

    Blanca Vélez Báguena

  3. IPN, Instituto Pedro Nunes Associação para a Inovação e Desenvolvimento em Ciência e Tecnologia, Rua Pedro Nunes, Coimbra, 3030-199, Portugal

    Patrícia Pereira & Jorge F. J. Coelho

  4. CERES, Department of Chemical Engineering Polo II - Rua Sílvio Lima, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, PT, 3030-790, Portugal

    Rui Moreira

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  1. Rafael C. Rebelo
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Contributions

All authors of this manuscript contributed to development of this work. R.C.R.: conceptualization, data curation, formal analysis, methodology, validation, investigation, writing original and writing review & editing. B.V.B. and P.P.: data curation, formal analysis, investigation, and writing original. R.M.: conceptualization, data curation, formal analysis, methodology, validation, investigation and writing review & editing. J.F.J.C: resources, writing review & editing, project administration and funding acquisition. A.C.S.: supervision, resources, writing-review & editing, project administration and funding acquisition. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

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Rebelo, R.C., Báguena, B.V., Pereira, P. et al. Biocompatible Cellulose-Based Superabsorbents for Personal Care Products. J Polym Environ (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10924-024-03315-4

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