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Reinforcement of Hydrogels by Nanofiber Network

Guo, Yuanhao
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=akron1367237415

Abstract Details

2013, Master of Science, University of Akron, Polymer Engineering.
Hydrogels can encapsulate water within a three-dimensional cross linked polymer network. Great interest in developing hyrogels is due to its specific combination of properties, including non-toxicity, biodegradability, hydrophilicity and biocompatibility. Therefore, it has been widely used in biomaterial applications such as tissue engineering, wound dressing, drug delivery and gene delivery. Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) hydrogels have been proposed to promising biomaterials for their excellent biological properties, including non-toxic, bio-adhesive characteristic and ease of processing. However, the weak mechanical properties of PVA hydrogels limit their wide applications, especially in load-bearing condition. Articular cartilage is a composite hydrogel with natural collagen fiber reinforcing proteoglycans gel matrix. Inspired by the tough and strong biological hydrogels, the purpose of this study is to explore polymer nanofibers as reinforcement for the PVA hydrogels. Polyurethane nanofibers were chosen as the filler to reinforce the PVA hydrogel due to its toughness, low Tg, excellent hydrolytic stability and bio-properties. In this case, the electrospinning/solution casting continuous process was used to make the reinforced composite PVA hydrogels. The nanofibers were electrospun into the wet solution casting film before solidification. The reinforced PVA hydrogels at different swelling states were tested by bubble inflation device (biaxial stretching) with varying fiber contents. The results showed that the mechanical properties of PVA hydrogels were reinforced by the nanofibers especially when the water content of hydrogels was high. At 40% water content, the Young’s modulus of PVA hydrogels with 5.4% fiber content was increased by 108%. The smaller nanofibers showed better reinforcement in the hydrogels than the larger ones.
Mukerrem Cakmak, Dr. (Advisor)
David Simmons, Dr. (Committee Member)
Younjin Min, Dr. (Committee Member)
98 p.
Polymers
hydrogels; nanofibers; reinforcement

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Guo, Y. (2013). Reinforcement of Hydrogels by Nanofiber Network [Master's thesis, University of Akron]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=akron1367237415

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Guo, Yuanhao. Reinforcement of Hydrogels by Nanofiber Network. 2013. University of Akron, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=akron1367237415.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Guo, Yuanhao. "Reinforcement of Hydrogels by Nanofiber Network." Master's thesis, University of Akron, 2013. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=akron1367237415

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

akron1367237415
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© 2013, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by University of Akron and OhioLINK.