SÍNTESIS, ABSORCIÓN DE SALES, PROPIEDADES TÉRMICAS y MORFOLOGIA EN HIDROGELES DE TIPO SEMI-IPN OBTENIDOS A PARTIR DE POLI(ACRILAMIDA)/POLI(3-HIDROXIBUTIRATO)

In this work potentially biodegradable semi-IPN hydrogels were synthesized and characterized. They were obtained from acrylamide (AAm) polymerized and cross-linked in the presence of the biopolymer poly(3-hydroxybutyrate), PHB. Hydrogels were obtained from AAm/PHB with fed proportions from 100/0 to 60/40. The hydrogels swelling degree was measured in deionized water and in nickel or copper salts solutions. In poly(acrylamide)/PHB, 90/10 hydrogel the swelling measured in water was 1670%, while for the poly(acrylamide), PAAm, hydrogel an average swelling degree of 871% mass found. Inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometer (ICP-OES) was used to ICP-OES results for the different solutions indicates that semi-IPN PAAm/PHB hydrogels have an efficient absorption, especially toward Cu 2+ ions. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) heating and cooling scans of the hydrogels were recorded between 30 and 185oC at 10 degree/min; X-ray diffraction experiments were carried out. The thermal analyses and X-ray diffraction pattern reflected that the hydrogels were 100% amorphous without any trace of three-dimensional order. Finally, the hydrogels morphology evaluated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) revealed pore dimension ranging from 230 nm to 2730 nm