Effect of graphene oxide content on the tensile properties and swelling ratio of chitosan/xanthan gum/graphene oxide hydrogel films

Abstract

In this study, chitosan (CS)/xanthan gum (XA)/graphene oxide (GO) nanocomposite hydrogels were prepared to enhance mechanical properties of CS/XA hydrogels. The hydrogels were characterized by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) spectra, wide-angle X-ray diffraction (WXAD) patterns, thermogravimetric analysis, and universal testing machine. The swelling ratio of dried CS/XA and CS/XA/GO films were also measured in deionized water at 37 °C. The effect of GO content on the tensile properties and swelling ratio of CS/XA/GO hydrogel films were investigated. With addition of GO, tensile strength and modulus of CS/XA hydrogel films were improved without significant decrease of elongation at break, while the swelling ratio of CS/XA/GO films decreased with increasing GO contents.

Keywords:

• Chitosan
• graphene oxide
• hydrogel
• nanocomposites
• xanthan gum

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) Grant funded by the Ministry of Science and ICT, Korea (NRF-2017R1A2B3012961) and Brain Korea 21 Plus Program (21A2013800002).