Preparation and properties of <scp>β‐CD</scp>/P(<scp>AM‐<i>co</i>‐AA</scp>) composite hydrogel by frontal polymerization of ternary deep eutectic solvent

Abstract

Abstract Choline chloride, acrylamide (AM) and acrylic acid (AA) were used as raw materials to prepare deep eutectic solvent, and β‐cyclodextrin (β‐CD) was used as filler to prepare β‐CD/P(AM‐ co ‐AA) composite hydrogel by frontal polymerization. The composite hydrogel was characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy. The pH response, mechanical properties and self‐healing of the hydrogel were studied. The results show that AA contains easily ionized –COOH, which makes the composite hydrogel have excellent pH response and super‐high swelling ratio under alkaline conditions. With the addition of β‐CD, due to the increase of hydrogen bonds and the combination of β‐CD and polymer chains the mechanical properties of the hydrogel are obviously improved and the tensile strength and compressive strength are increased by 4.12 and 2.26 times respectively. The introduction of β‐CD can improve the self‐healing performance of the composite hydrogel. With the increase of β‐CD content, the healing rate and healing speed of the composite hydrogel show an upward trend. In this study, a simpler and faster method is proposed to prepare self‐healing composite hydrogel with excellent mechanical properties and pH responsiveness. The self‐healing property and the existence of a hydrophobic cavity of β‐CD make β‐CD/P(AM‐ co ‐AA) composite hydrogel have potential application in wound healing. © 2023 Society of Industrial Chemistry.