Rapid preparation of ZnO nanocomposite hydrogels by frontal polymerization of a ternary DES and performance study

• Published in: RSC advances Vol. 12; no. 2; pp. 12871 - 12877
• Main Authors: Li, Bin, Zhou, Mengjing, Cheng, Ming, Liu, Jizhen, Xu, Xiaojia, Xie, Xiangyu
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Royal Society of Chemistry 22-04-2022; The Royal Society of Chemistry
• Subjects: Acrylamide; Chemistry; Choline; Energy methods; Gram-positive bacteria; Hydrogels; Nanocomposites; Nanoparticles; Polymerization; Swelling; Zinc oxide
• ISSN: 2046-2069; 2046-2069
• DOI: 10.1039/d2ra01626e

A deep eutectic solvent (DES) was synthesized from urea (U), acrylamide (AM), and choline chloride (ChCl). ZnO was dispersed in the DES as a filler, and nanocomposite hydrogels (ZnO/P(U-AM-ChCl)) were successfully prepared by frontal polymerization (FP). The hydrogels were verified by Fourier infrared spectroscopy to contain ZnO nanoparticles (ZnO-NPs). The swelling behaviour, conductivity, and antibacterial properties of the ZnO nanocomposite hydrogels were investigated. The results showed that the ZnO/P(U-AM-ChCl) hydrogels had excellent antibacterial properties and exhibited super high inhibition rates of 81.87% and 88.42% against two basic colonies of Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria, respectively. The equilibrium swelling of the hydrogels was found to increase significantly from 9.30 to 12.29 with the addition of ZnO, while the ZnO/P(U-AM-ChCl) hydrogel conductivity exhibited good UV sensitivity. This study provides a rapid and low-energy method for the preparation of nanocomposite hydrogels with excellent antibacterial properties.
This study provides a rapid and low-energy method for the preparation of nanocomposite hydrogels with excellent antibacterial properties.