Crosslinking Parameter on the Preparation of Cellulose Based Hydrogel with Divynilsulfone

Polymeric hydrogels are crosslinked polymers which display high sorption capacity in water and water solution. In this work, cellulose based hydrogel was prepared with divinylsulfone as crosslinking agent. Cellulose based hydrogel was synthesized as a mixture of sodium salt of carboxymethylcellulose (CMCNa) and hydroxyethylcellulose (HEC). The effect of chemical composition, temperature and reaction time during crosslinking processes was investigated both the value of equilibrium water uptake and swelling ratio. Infrared spectra of the synthesized polymeric networks were studied to investigate the chemical structure of crosslinking reaction qualitatively. The thermal properties and morphology of the obtained cellulose based hydrogels were observed by means of TGA (thermo-gravimetry analysis) and SEM (scanning electron microscopy), respectively. Crosslinking of CMCNa/HEC polymeric network results in a decrease in thermal stability. Hydrogel with weight ratio of CMCNa/HEC 5 to 1 at reaction temperature of 60 °C gave the highest absorption capacity in distilled water.