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Swelling behaviors of superabsorbent chitin/carboxymethylcellulose hydrogels

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Abstract

Novel superabsorbent chitin/carboxymethylcellulose (CMC) hydrogels were successfully prepared from mixture of CMC and chitin solution dissolved in 8 wt% NaOH/4 wt% urea aqueous system at low temperature by crosslinking with epichlorohydrin. The morphology and structure of the resultant composite hydrogels were investigated by scanning electron microscope, thermogravimetry, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The results indicated that the stiff chains of chitin are as a strong backbone in the hydrogel to support the pore wall, whereas the CMC contributed to water absorption. The maximum swelling ratio in water reached an exciting level of 1300 as the hydrogels still kept an intact appearance. Moreover, the hydrogels exhibited smart swelling and shrinking behaviors in NaCl and CaCl2 aqueous solution, showing salt-responsive adsorption behaviors in different media. This work provided a “green” pathway to prepare chitin-based superabsorbent hydrogels, which would be potential for the application in the biodegradable water-absorbent material field.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by National Basic Research Program of China (973 Program, 2010CB732203), the Major Program of National Natural Science Foundation of China (21334005), and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (20874079 and 51203122).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry, Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430072, China

    Hu Tang, Han Chen, Bo Duan, Ang Lu & Lina Zhang

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  1. Hu Tang
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  2. Han Chen
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  3. Bo Duan
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  4. Ang Lu
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  5. Lina Zhang
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Correspondence to Lina Zhang.

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Tang, H., Chen, H., Duan, B. et al. Swelling behaviors of superabsorbent chitin/carboxymethylcellulose hydrogels. J Mater Sci 49, 2235–2242 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-013-7918-0

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