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Temperature-responsive hydrogel prepared from carboxymethyl cellulose-stabilized N-vinylcaprolactam with potential
Hongyi Shang1, Xinxin Yang1, He Liu1
1Institute of Chemical Industry of Forestry Products, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Key Laboratory of Biomass Energy and Material, Key Lab. of Chemical Engineering of Forest Products, National Forestry and Grassland Administration, National Engineering Laboratory for Biomass Chemical Utilization, Nanjing 210042, Jiangsu Province, China.
Abstract:
The growth of plants is highly dependent on sufficient water and suitable fertilizer nutrients, but the soil often loses moisture and the fertilizers are low efficiency. To address this issue, the temperature-responsive hydrogels were developed using the N-vinylcaprolactam (NVCL) dispersed in water through the emulsification of carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) and acrylamide (AM), and urea was loaded into the hydrogel as a fertilizer. The amount of CMC and monomer have an effect on the structure, mechanical properties, swelling ability, and temperature sensitivity of the hydrogel. Therefore, the maximum swelling ratio of the hydrogel can reach 2056 % with the increasing hydrophilic groups, and the hydrogel exhibits a deswelling behavior as the temperature rises to higher than LCST due to the temperature responsiveness. Moreover, the fertilizer can rapidly release when the temperature is higher than LSCT, and exhibits similar release behavior in water and soil. Thus, the temperature-responsive hydrogel shows a great potential application for the controlled release of water and fertilizer in agriculture and forestry.