Synthesis of Silicon-Containing Chitosan Hydrogels in a Glycolic Acid Medium

• Published in: Advances in materials science and engineering Vol. 2016; no. 2016; pp. 1 - 8
• Main Authors: Rogacheva, S. M., Zhuravleva, Yu. Yu, Malinkina, O. N., Shipovskaya, A. B.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cairo, Egypt Hindawi Publishing Corporation 01-01-2016; Hindawi Limited
• Subjects: Acids; Binding sites; Glycerol; Hydrogels; Polymers; Polyvinyl alcohol; Silicon
• ISSN: 1687-8434; 1687-8442
• DOI: 10.1155/2016/3951703

The present paper considers a “one-pot” green sol-gel synthesis of hybrid inorganic/organic hydrogels based on chitosan glycolate by using organically modified silica Si(OGly)4·2GlyOH as a precursor to form a network of ≡Si–O–Si≡ bonds at 4, 20, and 37°C. The gelation time of the multicomponent chitosan-containing system was estimated as a function of the composition (the polymer template and precursor concentrations, introduction of a low-molecular-weight accelerator NaCl) and gelation conditions (the pH and temperature of the sol-gel process). It has been shown that an increased polymeric salt concentration, the introduction of an accelerator, and increased pH and temperature accelerate the gel-forming process.