Preparation and Characterization of Alginate Hydrogels with High Water-Retaining Capacity

Ivana M. Savić Gajić*, Ivan M. Savić, Zorica Svirčev*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleScientificpeer-review

19 Citations (Scopus)
42 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Hydrogels are very attractive materials due to their multifunctional properties. Many natural polymers, such as polysaccharides, are used for the preparation of hydrogels. The most important and commonly used polysaccharide is alginate because of its biodegradability, biocompatibility, and non-toxicity. Since the properties of alginate hydrogel and its application depend on numerous factors, this study aimed to optimize the gel composition to enable the growth of inoculated cyanobacterial crusts for suppressing the desertification process. The influence of alginate concentration (0.1–2.9%, m/v) and CaCl2 concentration (0.4–4.6%, m/v) on the water-retaining capacity was analyzed using the response surface methodology. According to the design matrix, 13 formulations of different compositions were prepared. The water-retaining capacity was defined as the system response maximized in optimization studies. The optimal composition of hydrogel with a water-retaining capacity of about 76% was obtained using 2.7% (m/v) alginate solution and 0.9% (m/v) CaCl2 solution. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy was used for the structural characterization of the prepared hydrogels, while the water content and swelling ratio of hydrogels were determined using gravimetric methods. It was concluded that alginate and CaCl2 concentrations play the most important role regarding the gelation time, homogeneity, water content, and swelling ratio of the hydrogel.

Original languageEnglish
Article number2592
Number of pages13
JournalPolymers
Volume15
Issue number12
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 7 Jun 2023
MoE publication typeA1 Journal article-refereed

Keywords

  • alginate
  • central composite design
  • cross-linking
  • gelation time
  • hydrogels
  • swelling
  • water content

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