Mechanically viscoelastic nanoreinforced hybrid hydrogels composed of polyacrylamide, sodium carboxymethylcellulose, graphene oxide, and cellulose nanocrystals

• Published in: Carbohydrate polymers 2018-08, Vol.193, p.228-238
• Main Authors: Kumar, Anuj, Rao, Kummara Madhusudana, Han, Sung Soo
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Cellulose nanocrystals; Graphene oxide; Hydrogels; Stiffness; Tissue engineering
• ISSN: 0144-8617; 1879-1344
• DOI: 10.1016/j.carbpol.2018.04.004

[Display omitted] •Mechanically viscoelastic hybrid hydrogels are achieved using One-Pot synthesis.•Multifunctional synergistic GO/CNCs crosslinking is improved.•A quaternary-network hydrogel reaction mechanism is presented.•Excellent rheological and mechanical properties are observed.•Shape-recovery and self-healing behavior are advantageous for tissue engineering. Polyacrylamide-sodium carboxymethylcellulose (PMC) hybrid hydrogels reinforced with graphene oxide (GO) and/or cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) were prepared via in situ free-radical polymerization. In this work, GO nanosheets were freshly synthesized by modified Hummer’s method alongwith the aqueous suspension of CNCs by acid-hydrolysis. In addition, the effect of GO content (1.5 wt%) and CNCs (from 2.5 wt% to 10.0 wt%) was investigated in these quaternary hydrogels. The results showed good pseudo-plastic behavior, self-healing ability, mechanical performance, and shape-recovery behavior of the hybrid hydrogels reinforced with GO and CNCs content. PMC-GO1.5/CNCs10.0 hybrid hydrogel showed 110.5 kPa as compressive strength and stiffness value of 887.7 N/m (at 30% strain). Moreover, the synergistic effect of both GO and CNCs as nanoreinforcements in hydrogels provides a new point of view for the preparation of hybrid hydrogels having exceptional structural and mechanical properties. As-obtained hybrid hydrogels may have potential application in tissue engineering for tunable mechanical properties.