Gubaidullin Aidar T, Makarova Anastasiya O, Derkach Svetlana R, Voron'ko Nicolai G, Kadyirov Aidar I, Ziganshina Sufia A, Salnikov Vadim V, Zueva Olga S, Zuev Yuri F
Arbuzov Institute of Organic and Physical Chemistry, FRC Kazan Scientific Center of RAS, Arbuzov Street 8, 420088 Kazan, Russia.
Kazan Institute of Biochemistry and Biophysics, FRC Kazan Scientific Center of RAS, Lobachevsky Street 2/31, 420111 Kazan, Russia.
Polymers (Basel). 2022 Jun 9;14(12):2346. doi: 10.3390/polym14122346.
Hydrogels, three-dimensional hydrophilic water-insoluble polymer networks having mechanical properties inherent for solids, have attracted continuous research attention over a long time period. Here, we studied the structure and properties of hydrogel based on gelatin, κ-carrageenan and CNTs using the combination of SAXS, PXRD, AFM microscopy, SEM and rheology methods. We have shown that the integration of polysaccharide and protein in the composite hydrogel leads to suppression of their individual structural features and homogenization of two macromolecular components into a single structural formation. According to obtained SAXS results, we observed the supramolecular complex, which includes both polysaccharide and protein components associated with each other. It was determined that hydrogel structure formed in the initial solution state (dispersion) retains hydrogel supramolecular structure under its cooling up to gel state. The sizes of dense cores of these polyelectrolyte complexes (PEC) slightly decrease in the gel state in comparison with PEC water dispersion. The introduction of CNTs to hydrogel does not principally change the type of supramolecular structure and common structural tendencies observed for dispersion and gel states of the system. It was shown that carbon nanotubes embedded in hydrogel act as the supplementary template for formation of the three-dimensional net, giving additional mechanical strengthening to the studied system.
水凝胶是具有固体固有机械性能的三维亲水性水不溶性聚合物网络，长期以来一直吸引着持续的研究关注。在此，我们使用小角X射线散射（SAXS）、粉末X射线衍射（PXRD）、原子力显微镜（AFM）、扫描电子显微镜（SEM）和流变学方法相结合的方式，研究了基于明胶、κ-卡拉胶和碳纳米管的水凝胶的结构和性能。我们已经表明，复合水凝胶中多糖和蛋白质的整合导致它们各自结构特征的抑制，并且两种大分子成分均匀化为单一的结构形式。根据获得的SAXS结果，我们观察到了超分子复合物，其中包括相互关联的多糖和蛋白质成分。已确定在初始溶液状态（分散体）中形成的水凝胶结构在冷却至凝胶状态时保留水凝胶超分子结构。与PEC水分散体相比，这些聚电解质复合物（PEC）的致密核尺寸在凝胶状态下略有减小。将碳纳米管引入水凝胶中，原则上不会改变超分子结构的类型以及观察到的系统分散体和凝胶状态的常见结构趋势。结果表明，嵌入水凝胶中的碳纳米管充当形成三维网络的辅助模板，为所研究的系统提供额外的机械强化作用。
