Wu Fei, Gao Jianfeng, Xiang Yang, Yang Jianming
Taiyuan Institute of Technology, Taiyuan 030008, China.
State Key Laboratory of Dynamic Measurement Technology, School of Instrument and Electronics, North University of China, Taiyuan 030051, China.
Polymers (Basel). 2023 Sep 15;15(18):3782. doi: 10.3390/polym15183782.
The rapid and effective fabrication of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) hydrogels with good mechanical properties is of great significance yet remains a huge challenge. The preparation of PVA hydrogels via the conventional cyclic freeze-thaw method is intricate and time-intensive. In this study, a pioneering approach involving the utilization of low-temperature continuous freezing is introduced to produce a novel PVA-ethylene glycol (EG) gel. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, X-ray diffractometry (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) confirm that with the assistance of EG, PVA molecular chains can self-assemble to generate an abundance of microcrystalline domains at low temperatures, thus improving the mechanical properties of PVA-EG gel. Remarkably, when the mass ratio of HO/EG is 4:6, the gel's maximum tensile strength can reach 2.5 MPa, which is much higher than that of PVA gels prepared via the freeze-thaw method. The preparation process of PVA-EG gel is simple, and its properties are excellent, which will promote the wide application of PVA tough gel in many fields.
快速有效地制备具有良好机械性能的聚乙烯醇（PVA）水凝胶具有重要意义，但仍然是一个巨大的挑战。通过传统的循环冻融法制备PVA水凝胶复杂且耗时。在本研究中，引入了一种利用低温连续冷冻的开创性方法来制备新型PVA-乙二醇（EG）凝胶。傅里叶变换红外（FTIR）光谱、X射线衍射（XRD）和扫描电子显微镜（SEM）证实，在EG的辅助下，PVA分子链可以在低温下自组装产生大量微晶区域，从而提高PVA-EG凝胶的机械性能。值得注意的是，当HO/EG的质量比为4:6时，凝胶的最大拉伸强度可达2.5 MPa，远高于通过冻融法制备的PVA凝胶。PVA-EG凝胶的制备过程简单，性能优异，这将推动PVA坚韧凝胶在许多领域的广泛应用。
