Thermal properties of hydrogel-clay nano-composites

Hydrogels are one of the most widely employed materials in biological, medical and technological areas. However, the use of hydrogels sometimes is restricted due to their specific properties. It is well-known that polymeric nanocomposites reinforced with clays show valuable improvements in their pro...

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Bibliographic Details
Authors: Ollier Primiano, Romina Paola, Sanchez, Laura Mabel, Gonzalez, Jimena Soledad, Alvarez, Vera Alejandra
Format: article
Status:Published version
Publication Date:2018
Country:Argentina
Institution:Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas
Repository:CONICET Digital (CONICET)
Language:English
OAI Identifier:oai:ri.conicet.gov.ar:11336/91753
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/11336/91753
Access Level:Open access
Keyword:Hydrogel
Bentonite
Thermal properties.
https://purl.org/becyt/ford/2.10
https://purl.org/becyt/ford/2
https://purl.org/becyt/ford/2.5
Description
Summary:Hydrogels are one of the most widely employed materials in biological, medical and technological areas. However, the use of hydrogels sometimes is restricted due to their specific properties. It is well-known that polymeric nanocomposites reinforced with clays show valuable improvements in their properties. In this work, eco-friendly composite hydrogels were prepared employing polyvinylalcohol (PVA) and bentonite (abundant and low cost smectite-type clay in Argentina) as raw materials through the previously optimized freezing-thawing (F-T) crosslinking method. Different nanocomposite hydrogels were obtained by varying the corresponding reactor feed. These materials have been recently chemically, morphologically and mechanically analysed in a recent work. Specifically, in the present work, thermal degradation behaviour of PVA-bentonite hydrogels was studied. Kinetic analytical models were applied to non-isothermal thermogravimetric (TGA) measurements trying to identify the possible mechanism for PVA degradation in the presence of bentonite.