Sharif Digital Repository

Novel high capacity swelling nanoporous hydrogel (NPH) was synthesized via graft copolymerization of acrylamide (AAm) onto kappa-carrageenan (kC, as a polysaccharide) and gelatin (as a protein) hybrid backbone, after hydrolysis of this system. The Taguchi method as a strong experimental design tool was used for its optimized synthesis. The Taguchi method was applied for the experimental and standard 9 orthogonal array (OA) with four factors and three levels for each factor. A series of NPHs were synthesized by proposed conditions of Qualitek-4 Software. Considering the results of 9 trials according to analysis of variance (ANOVA), optimum conditions were proposed. The swelling behavior of... 

In this work, the synthesis and characterization of a new nanocomposite from carbon nanotubes-graft-polymer (CNTs-g-P) is reported. The products were obtained by the filling of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) (inner diameter 2040 nm) with CoFe2O4 magnetic nanoparticles, been grafted with poly (caprolactone). The filling process was carried out by using acid treatment through wet chemistry. The structure and the properties of the new nanocomposite were studied with TEM, VSM, TGA, and spectroscopic techniques. © 2009 World Scientific Publishing Company  

Magnetic reduced graphene oxide/polymer nanocomposites were prepared by in situ polymerization and grafting of polyacrylamide on the surface of functionalized magnetic reduced graphene oxide (rGO). Graphene oxide nanosheets were decorated with Fe3O4 nanoparticles, reduced and functionalized with 3-(trimethoxysilyl)propyl methacrylate, and then grafted with polyacrylamide. Grafting of polyacrylamide makes magnetic rGO hydrophilic and highly water dispersible. The prepared material was used as adsorbent for removal of an anionic dye, Congo red, and a maximum adsorption capacity up to 166.7 mg g−1 was obtained. The kinetics and isotherm of adsorption and the effect of experimental condition on... 

Hydrogels of poly(acrylic acid) grafted onto salep with excellent water absorption and water retention abilities under neutral conditions were successfully synthesized for the first time and employed for different applications. The effect of reaction variables to achieve maximum swelling capacity was investigated. In our procedure, ammonium persulfate (APS) as a water-soluble initiator and methylenebisacrylamide (MBA) as a suitable crosslinking agent were used and the best synthesis conditions described. The structure of the final product was confirmed by Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy SEM and TGA analysis and a mechanism for superabsorbent... 

We use an efficient molecular theory approach to study electrokinetic flow within a pH-responsive nanopore grafted with a polyelectrolyte (PE) brush. The flow rate, migration and convective conductance, electric potential and velocity fields, species distributions and the degree of ionization of the weak PE functional groups and nanopore selectivity are obtained and interpreted while considering pH-induced surface charges. The theory is generally based on writing the overall free energy of the system including the entropies arising from the conformations of flexible, excluded volume chains, the mixing of mobile species, electrostatic contribution, and the free energy due to the chemical... 

A novel hydrolyzed collagen-based hydrogel has been prepared by grafting the binary mixture of acrylamide and 2-acrylamido-2-methylpropanesulfonic acid onto the collagen backbone in the presence of a cross-linking agent. Its physicochemical properties in aqueous solution were studied. The effect of reaction variables on both gel content and swelling capacity was investigated to achieve a hydrogel with improved absorbency and gel content. The absorbency under load of optimized hydrogel was also investigated by using an absorbency under load tester at various applied pressures. The swelling ratio in various salt solutions was also determined and additionally, the swelling of hydrogels was... 

Polyacrylonitrile (PAN) was grafted onto carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) sodium salt backbones by using cerie ammonium nitrate (CAN) as an initiator. The graft co-polymer, CMC-g-PAN, was hydrolyzed by NaOH solution to yield hydrogel, H-CMC-g-PAN. The nitrile groups of CMC-g-PAN were completely converted to a mixture of hydrophilic carboxamide and carboxylate groups during alkaline hydrolysis, followed by in situ crosslinking of the grafted PAN chains. The structure of the products was confirmed by FTIR spectroscopy. The synthetic parameters affecting the swelling capacity of the hydrogel (i.e., CMC-g-PAN add-on value, the hydrolysis time and temperature, and concentration of NaOH) were... 

The synthesis of nanocomposites via in situ grafting polymerization due to its ability to produce polymeric materials with promising microscopic and macroscopic characteristics is becoming very attractive. In this paper, different poly(L-Lactide)-block-poly(ε-caprolactone) (PLLA-b-PCL) copolymers were in situ synthesized in the presence of modified titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanoparticles (mTNP) as the initiator and stannous octoate as the catalyst. The surface of TiO2 was modified by grafting aminopropyl trimethoxy silane to improve initiator efficiency. Copolymers with 90/10, 70/30, and 50/50 mass ratio of L-lactide/ ε-caprolactone and 5 wt% of mTNP (proportional to ε-caprolactone) were... 

A novel kappa-carrageenan (κC)-based superabsorbing hydrogel was synthesized through graft copolymerization of acrylamide (AAm) onto a κC substrate in the presence of a crosslinking agent. The crosslinked κC-poly(AAm) polymer graft was partially hydrolyzed in alkaline medium to yield a superabsorbent resin, H-carragPAM. The resin structure was confirmed using FTIR spectroscopy. The variables of graft copolymerization (monomer, initiator, polysaccharide and crosslinker concentration, reaction temperature and time as well as stirrer speed) that affected on the ultimate water-swelling capacity were optimized. The time-temperature variation of the copolymerization was investigated in terms of... 

A novel superabsorbent hydrogel composite based on gelatin has been prepared by graft copolymerisation of acrylic acid and acrylamide in the presence of kaolin powder, using methylene-bisacrylamide (MBA) as a crosslinking agent and ammonium persulfate as an initiator. The synthetic variables affecting the water absorbency of the resulting superabsorbent composite were studied and the composite structure was confirmed using FT-IR spectroscopy. A new absorption band at 1728 cm-1 in the composite spectrum confirmed the presence of a kaolin-organic polymer linkage. The effect of kaolin content and MBA concentration showed that increasing these parameters decreased the water absorbency of the... 

In this work, we synthesize a novel protein-based superabsorbent hydrogel and study its swelling behavior. The crosslinking graft copolymerization of acrylic acid (AA) onto the hydrolyzed collagen as a protein backbone was carried out in a homogeneous medium. Potassium persulfate (KPS) as an initiator and N,N′-methylene bisacrylamide (MBA) as a crosslinker were used. The product's structure was established using FTIR spectroscopy. We were systematically optimized the certain variables of the graft copolymerization (i.e. the monomer, the initiator, and the crosslinker concentration) to achieve a hydrogel with maximum swelling capacity. Under this condition, maximum capacity of swelling in... 

In this study, maleic anhydride grafted polypropylene microporous flat-sheet membranes were prepared via a thermally induced phase separation method with a mixture of dibutyl phthalate and dioctyl phthalate as a diluent. The effects of the polymer composition and coagulation bath temperature on the morphology and performance of the fabricated membranes were investigated. The hydrophilicity results of the membranes demonstrated that membrane modification reduced the water contact angle by about 45°, whereas the pure water flux was enhanced about four times. The antifouling behavior of the fabricated membranes was also investigated in a membrane bioreactor. The results show that the pure water... 

New biocompatible and water soluble hybrid materials containing multi-wall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) as core and hyperbranched polyglycerol (PG) as shell were synthesized successfully. In this work, pristine MWCNTs were opened and functionalized through treatment with acid and polyglycerol was covalently grafted onto their surface by the "grafting from" approach based on in-situ ring-opening polymerization of glycidol. Some short-term In vitro cytotoxicity and hemocompatibility tests were conducted on HT1080 cell line (human Fibrosarcoma), because this epithelial cell line can be one of the first route of entry of the exogenous materials to the vascular system and therefore subsequent... 

Synthesis and swelling behavior of a new superabsorbent hydrogel based on natural salep grafted with Polyacrylamide is described. The new superabsorbent hydrogel biopolymer was synthesized via radical crosslink-ing and graft copolymerization of acrylamide monomer onto salep backbones. Regarding to the water absorption of hydrogel, the best synthesis condition is reported. FTIR spectroscopy and thermogravimetric analysis were used to confirm the structure of the final product and a mechanism for superabsorbent hydrogel formation was also suggested. After preparing the desired hydrogels based on optimum condition, several factors affecting the swelling behavior of hydrogel including pH of... 

In this research, polysulfone (PSf) ultrafiltration (UF) membranes were prepared by a phase inversion method. Surface modification of the PSf membranes was carried out via grafting of acrylic acid as a hydrophilic monomer by free radical graft polymerization initiated by redox reaction. A central composite design (CCD) of response surface methodology (RSM) was applied to design the experiments. The process variables were acrylic acid concentration (CAA), redox system contact time (T1), and acrylic acid polymerization time (T2), while the contact angle (CA), pure water flux (PWF), and flux recovery ratio (FRR) were considered as the responses. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) demonstrated that... 

Zeolitic imidazole frameworks (ZIFs) provide an exciting platform to design and fabricate non-precious-metal carbon-based catalysts for oxygen reduction/evolution reaction (ORR/OER). Herein, we elaborately design a facile enzyme-assisted synthetic strategy that enables to tailor the ZIFs precursors into structural stable decussation shape, which derived Co nanoislands grafted on decussate N-doped carbon nanoleaves (D-Co@NC) can well retain the interpenetrating nanostructure. Benefiting from the combined advantages of compositions and interpenetrating nanostructures, D-Co@NC possesses 5.2 times higher exposed electrochemical active area than the conventional dodecahedral one, thus endowing... 

A series of superabsorbent composites were synthesized through graft copolymerization of acrylic acid (AA) onto carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) in the presence of celite powder using N,N'-methylenebisacrylamide (MBA) as a cross-linking agent and ammonium persulphate (APS) as an initiator. The chemical structure and thermal properties of the composite hydrogels were characterized by FTIR spectroscopy and TGA methods, respectively. Morphology of the samples was examined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). In free-state, the swelling conditions and hence the related data are not real, because in all their applications the swelling particles of superabsorbent must absorb aqueous solutions while... 

Although the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction using interference screw is a well-accepted surgical procedure, patients still suffer graft failure in the initial rehabilitation phase. Graft fixation stability of a newly designed anatomical hybrid thread tapered interference screw (AHTTIS) was compared with a conventional standard one (CSIS) by conducting in-vitro mechanical tests. According to the CSIS manufacturer's instruction, eight tapered bone tunnels, matching AHTTIS geometry, and eight straight cylindrical tunnels were drilled in artificial bone blocks. Bovine tendon grafts were fixed using AHTTIS and CSIS in their corresponding bone tunnels. Each graft was subjected to...