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In this study, we synthesized a hydrogel from the extract of gracillaria (GR), poly-
(vinyl alcohol) (PVA), glutaraldehyde (GA), and carbon nanotube (CNT). To confirm the
synthesis of hydrogel, several characterizations were done, including fourier transform infra
red (FTIR) and scanning electron microscope (SEM). Analysis on the material performance
under various parameters (such as swelling ratio and release behavior of potassium from
hydrogel into aqueous media) was also carefully evaluated based on weight measurement and
flame-photometry instrumentation. FTIR spectra showed that the interaction of hydrogel
components (GR, PVA, GA, CNT and Kalium-related material) involved some functional
groups such as C-O, C-N, C=O, C-H sp3 as well as O-H which predominantly occurred
through hydrogen bonding. The swelling ratio of technical-grade PVA-based hydrogel was
higher than that of pro-analytical-grade. The hydrogel showed a typical slow release behavior
for potassium ion with the release rate is 8.89 ppm for first ten minutes and the release rate
average is 0.0134 ppm/minutes for the normal phase.
Keywords: hydrogel, gracilaria, poly-(vynil alcohol), CNT |
full paper (pdf, 880 Kb)