Synthesis of chitosan based gel and study of swelling characteristics

Abstract

Synthesis of chitosan based grafted gels and their swelling characteristics have been recorded in terms of (P_s) percent swelling. Initiator potassium per sulphate is used for polymerization of chitosan gels under microwave radiations. Synthesized hydrogels are characterized by various physico-chemical techniques viz. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectra analysis (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA). The swelling behavior of chitosan based synthesized gels has been observed to determine the stability of gels in aqueous medium. The dependence of swelling behavior of chitosan gel on monomer, initiator concentration and reaction time has been investigated. The optimization of monomer concentration for getting samples with maximum percent swelling (311.53%) observed is 35 mL of 5 molL^-1. Further decreased percent swelling (P_s) is observed when monomer concentration increase which could be due to the more compactness of the samples.  The maximum water uptake capacity has been observed under pH 7 at 25°C.