Preparation and properties of β-CD/P(AM-co-AA) composite hydrogel by frontal polymerization of ternary deep eutectic solvent

Choline chloride, acrylamide (AM) and acrylic acid (AA) were used as raw materials to prepare deep eutectic solvent, and β-cyclodextrin (β-CD) was used as filler to prepare β-CD/P(AM- co -AA) composite hydrogel by frontal polymerization. The composite hydrogel was characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy. The pH response, mechanical properties and self-healing of the hydrogel were studied. The results show that AA contains easily ionized –COOH, which makes the composite hydrogel have excellent pH response and super-high swelling ratio under alkaline conditions. With the addition of β-CD, due to the increase of hydrogen bonds and the combination of β-CD and polymer chains the mechanical properties of the hydrogel are obviously improved and the tensile strength and compressive strength are increased by 4.12 and 2.26 times respectively. The introduction of β-CD can improve the self-healing performance of the composite hydrogel. With the increase of β-CD content, the healing rate and healing speed of the composite hydrogel show an upward trend. In this study, a simpler and faster method is proposed to prepare self-healing composite hydrogel with excellent mechanical properties and pH responsiveness. The self-healing property and the existence of a hydrophobic cavity of β-CD make β-CD/P(AM- co -AA) composite hydrogel have potential application in wound healing. © 2023 Society of Industrial Chemistry.