One-step preparation and investigation of high strength textile reinforced hydrogel composites

Hydrogels are one of the most widely used polymeric gels and have been extensively used for drug delivery, agricultural and biomedical fields, food preservation, and tissue applications. Hydrophilic, soft, and flexible properties of hydrogels provide a significant opportunity to advance the understanding of interdisciplinary approach. However, hydrogels have low resistance under the applied mechanical forces. This situation results in hydrogels to break during usage. In this regard, textile reinforced hydrogel composite presents an interdisciplinary approach to solve mechanical problems of hydrogels. The aim of this thesis is to investigate development of woven fabric reinforced hydrogel composite structure with enhanced mechanical properties. In this respect, polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) in yarn form was reinforced with another durable cotton, flax, wool and viscose yarns to produce a hydrogel composite structure with improved resistance to the applied mechanical forces. For this purpose, PVA/Cotton (Co), PVA/Flax (F), PVA/Wool (W), PVA/Viscose (VI) blended woven fabrics were manufactured for the forming fabric reinforced hydrogel composites. The hybrid woven fabrics were treated with different concentrations of glutaraldehyde and borax solutions. PVA yarns in the hybrid woven fabric turned into crosslinked gel structures, whereas cotton, flax, wool and viscose yarns remained in the woven fabrics as a reinforcing element. The characterizations of yarn and fabric reinforced hydrogel composites have been carried out by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and scanning electron microscope (SEM). The swelling degree and mechanical properties of the samples were investigated with respect to the crosslinker ratio and water contents in the hydrogel composites. Considering all results, natural fiber woven fabric reinforcement significantly increased the mechanical properties of hydrogel composites. The findings of each article presented in this thesis have a number of significant implications for future researchs