Transparent hydrogels prepared by radiation crosslinking hydroxypropyl cellulose with functional monomers

Hiroki, Akihiro; Sato, Toshihiro*; Nagasawa, Naotsugu; Taguchi, Mitsumasa; Tamada, Masao

Preparation of HPC hydrogels with good mechanical properties as well as transparency was investigated. The modified HPC hydrogels were prepared by electron beam irradiation to highly concentrated aqueous solutions containing HPC, tricosaethylene glycol dimethacrylate (23G) and 2-hydroxy methacrylate (HEMA). The addition of 23G with HPC induced the increase in the gel fraction, especially at less than 20 kGy. It was found that the gel fraction of the HPC/23G/HEMA hydrogel decreased drastically. Tensile strength and elongation at break of HPC/HEMA/23G hydrogel (20/2.0/0.2 wt%) obtained at 50 kGy were 2.0 kg/cm and 124%, which exhibited about 2.0 and 1.8 times larger than these of the pure HPC hydrogel, respectively. Therefore, the HPC hydrogels with desired properties were obtained by radiation crosslinking HPC with monomers.