The Effect of Dextran Molecular Weight on the Biodegradable Hydrogel with Oil, Synthesized by the Michael Addition Reaction

Plant oil and derivatives have been used in polymer biomaterials, especially as starting materials for the synthesis of bio-based polymers. The uses have many advantages such as biodegradability, renewability, energy saving, easy of production, less CO2 emission, and low price. Hydrogels were prepared from natural materials: acrylate-epoxidized soybean oil and dextran. The effects of temperature, reaction time, and molar ratios of the reactants were examined on acrylation of dextran of the hydrogel. The dextran acrylates were tested for their solubility and characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and nuclear magnetic resonance. Hydrogels were characterized by FT-IR. The pore sizes of hydrogels were examined by scanning electronic microscopy. Also, swelling tests were performed on hydrogels. The new biodegradable hydrogels were formed from dextran and different molecular weights of acrylate-epoxidized soybean oil, by the Michael addition reaction using pentaerythritol tetrakis(3-mercaptopropionate) (QT) and triethylamine as catalyst at 30/70 composition.