Synthesis of crotonic and itaconic acid based cationic hydrogel and investigation of electrical properties of this hydrogel

Hydrogel is a gel-like material formed mostly from water and a small portion of a cross-linked polymer network. It is highly absorbent, retaining large amounts of water while maintaining its structural integrity. Hydrogels can also be designed to respond to specific stimuli such as pH, temperature, or electrical signals, making them versatile materials for controlled drug release and other biomedical applications. Electrically conductive hydrogels have gained significant attention in recent years and represent an important class of materials with many potential applications. With the limited availability of fossil carbon sources today, the production of materials from sustainable sources has become increasingly important. Natural hydrogels can be cited as examples of these materials. Unlike traditional hydrogels typically derived from non-renewable petroleum-based sources, renewable hydrogels are typically synthesized from renewable resources such as natural polymers or bio-based monomers. Renewable hydrogels can be designed to be biocompatible and non-toxic, making them suitable for biomedical applications such as drug delivery, wound healing, and tissue engineering. In this thesis, two different acids, crotonic (CA) and itaconic (IA), were used as renewable sources. These acids, along with epichlorohydrin, were separately used to synthesize participation products. After this process, both products were quaternized to be used as cationic monomers. After quaternization, mixtures were prepared with various ratios of natural materials in an aqueous environment using the obtained monomers. Then, cylindrical gels were cut to investigate their electrical properties, and alternating current and direct current values were recorded using the prepared measurement setup. Upon examining the values, it can be said that the conductivity of quaternized crotonic acid is higher than that of quaternized itaconic acid, as the other monomers within the hydrogels are of the same type. It is observed that as the percentage of natural resources used in the hydrogels increases, the conductivity value also increases. Studies on the electrical properties of hydrogels based on itaconic and crotonic acids in the literature are limited. It is thought that this thesis study could contribute to the literature by using two different natural materials after quaternization to obtain cationic hydrogel with various ratios of additives and investigating the electrical properties of the synthesized hydrogel.