Synthesis, characterization and salt resistance swelling behavior of psy-g-poly(aa) hydrogel

Abstract

Psyllium, a medicinally important natural polymer was functionalized with acrylic acid using FAS-H2O2 as redox initiator and glutaraldehyde as a crosslinker. Synthesized hydrogel was characterized with FTIR spectroscopy, SEM and TGA/DTA techniques to know their surface morphology and thermal stability. Salt resistant swelling behavior of synthesized hydrogel was studied in different salt solutions as a function of concentration of salt, temperature and pH. It was found that synthesized hydrogel showed maximum swelling (514.0 %) in NaCl solution followed by NH4Cl2, MgCl2, CaCl2 and BaCl2 solution. Psy-g-poly(AA) hydrogel showed maximum swelling (863.49%) at 30 °C in distilled water. © 2010 VBRI press.