High water-content hydrogels were successfully prepared by crosslinking cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) with poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA). Glutaraldehyde was used as a crosslinking agent to form a three-dimensional network between polymer and cellulose chains. Mechanical and thermal properties of the hydrogels were evaluated to understand the abilities of CNCs. The hydrogels prepared in this work contain water as high as 92%, and CNCs were found to significant improve mechanical properties of the hydrogels. The compressive strength of the hydrogels with 1 wt% CNCs was increased by three times to 53 kPa, compared to only 17.5 kPa of those without CNCs. Creep results showed the presence of CNCs can also decrease creep elasticity. However, with increasing CNCs in the hydrogels, the degradation temperature of the hydrogels was shifted towards a lower temperature. The degradation temperature of the hydrogels without CNCs was ~347°C, compared to ~320 °C for 2 wt% CNC loading. This reduction may possibly be due to the lower thermal stability of CNCs. However, this lowered degradation temperature was still sufficient for these hydrogels used as biomaterial applications.

Mechanical and thermal properties of cellulose nanocrystal reinforced poly(vinyl alcohol) hydrogels

251st National Meeting (2016)

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