The effects of morpholine pre-treated and carboxymethylated cellulose nanofibrils on the properties of alginate-based hydrogels

Amaka J Onyianta; Maila Castellano; Mark Dorris; Rhodri L Williams; Silvia Vicini

doi:10.1016/j.carbpol.2018.06.084

The effects of morpholine pre-treated and carboxymethylated cellulose nanofibrils on the properties of alginate-based hydrogels

Carbohydr Polym. 2018 Oct 15:198:320-327. doi: 10.1016/j.carbpol.2018.06.084. Epub 2018 Jun 22.

Authors

Amaka J Onyianta¹, Maila Castellano², Mark Dorris³, Rhodri L Williams³, Silvia Vicini⁴

Affiliations

¹ Material Chemistry and Processing, School of Engineering and Built Environment, Edinburgh Napier University, Edinburgh, EH10 5DT, United Kingdom. Electronic address: a.onyianta@napier.ac.uk.
² Department of Chemistry and Industrial Chemistry, University of Genoa, Genoa, 16146, Italy.
³ Material Chemistry and Processing, School of Engineering and Built Environment, Edinburgh Napier University, Edinburgh, EH10 5DT, United Kingdom.
⁴ Department of Chemistry and Industrial Chemistry, University of Genoa, Genoa, 16146, Italy. Electronic address: silvia.vicini@unige.it.

PMID: 30093005
DOI: 10.1016/j.carbpol.2018.06.084

Abstract

The effects of varying percentage loadings of morpholine pre-treated cellulose nanofibrils (MCNF) and carboxymethylated cellulose nanofibrils (CMCNF) on the aqueous swelling, compressive modulus and viscoelastic properties of calcium-ion-crosslinked alginate hydrogels were investigated. In addition, the pore structures of hydrogels with the highest compressive modulus were studied. The incorporation of 5 wt. % MCNF resulted in a slightly reduced aqueous swelling, a 36% increase in compressive modulus and a layered pore structure when compared with the neat alginate hydrogel. On the other hand, the addition of CMCNF at the same loading led to a slightly improved aqueous swelling, an increase in compressive modulus (17%) and high porosity. Further increases in CNF loadings did not result in significant increase in material properties. The alginate/CNF composite materials have potentials to be used in applications where good swelling and mechanical robustness are required.

Keywords: Alginates; Carboxymethylation; Cellulose nanofibrils (CNF); Compressive modulus; Hydrogels; Surface modification.