Hydrogels from dextran and soybean oil by UV photo‐polymerization

Abstract

ABSTRACT In this work, hydrogels were synthesized by UV photo‐polymerization of hydrophilic dextran functionalized with acrylate groups (Dex‐A) and hydrophobic acrylate epoxidized soybean oil (AESO). The acrylation of dextran was accomplished by reacting dextran ( M w 70,000 g mol −1 ) with acryloyl chloride and pyridine. The Dex‐A was characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). Five rigid hydrogels were prepared using the weight ratios of Dex‐A and AESO as 10/90, 20/80, 30/70, 40/60, and 50/50. The hydrogels were characterized by FTIR, thermal gravimetric analyses (TGA) and scanning electronic microscopy (SEM). The experimental results demonstrated that the swelling and release profiles of the Dex‐A/AESO hydrogels can be tailored by varying the ratio of Dex‐A and AESO thus varying the balance of hydrophilicity and hydrophobicity of the network structures and the crosslinking density. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2015 , 132 , 41446.