On the mechanical strength of biocompatible semi-IPNs of polyvinyl alcohol and polyacrylamide

Semi-interpenetrating polymer networks (semi-IPNs) based on polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and crosslinked polyacrylamide (PAM) were prepared by redox polymerization. Various specimens were prepared by varying concentration of PVA, acrylamide (AM) and crosslinker MBA to study the effect of different compositions on the structural and mechanical property of semi-IPNs. The structural and morphological characterizations of prepared semi-IPNs were obtained from the studies of FTIR spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD) and environmental scanning electron microscopy (ESEM). The mechanical properties of pure PVA and semi-IPNs like tensile strength, percentage elongation and deformation under stress were obtained by load-displacement curves. A similar profile for deformation is obtained for all the semi-IPNs. It was found that the elastic modulus, necking behaviour and ultimate failure are largely affected by the chemical composition of the semi-IPNs.