Koya University researcher Mr. Rebaz Anwar Omer, lecturer at Faculty of Science and Health, Department of Chemistry, has published a new article on "Hydrogels from Dextran and Soybean Oil by UV Photo-Polymerization" in the Journal of Applied Polymer Chemistry. The research study hydrogels were synthesized by UV photo-polymerization of hydrophilic dextran functionalized with acrylate Groups (Dex-A) and hydrophobic acrylate epoxidized soybean oil.

ABSTRACT: In this work, hydrogels were synthesized by UV photo-polymerization of hydrophilic dextran functionalized with acrylate groups (Dex-A) and hydrophobic acrylate epoxidized soybean oil (AESO). The acrylation of dextran was accomplished by reacting dextran (Mw 70,000 g mol−1) with acryloyl chloride and pyridine. The Dex-A was characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). Five rigid hydrogels were prepared using the weight ratios of Dex-A and AESO as 10/90, 20/80, 30/70, 40/60, and 50/50. The hydrogels were characterized by FTIR, thermal gravimetric analyses (TGA) and scanning electronic microscopy (SEM). The experimental results demonstrated that the swelling and release profiles of the Dex-A/AESO hydrogels can be tailored by varying the ratio of Dex-A and AESO thus varying the balance of hydrophilicity and hydrophobicity of the network structures and the crosslinking density. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2014, 131, 41446.

Keywords: biopolymers and renewable polymers; gels; photopolymerization; polysaccharides; swelling

Koya University is escalating its presence in the global academic arena. In the latest Webometrics ranking of 2014, Koya University has been ranked as 20th best university in Iraq and 12096 globally. This is a remarkable achievement by a young and dynamic university such as Koya University in the Middle East.

Further information

DOI: 10.1002/app.41446 (AESO). 
URL: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/app.41446/abstract

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Rebaz Anwar Omer