Characteristics of xanthan gum-based biodegradable superporous hydrogel

A novel biopolymer-based superporous hydrogel (SPH) was synthesized through chemical crosslinking by graft copolymerization of 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA) and acrylic acid (AA) on to xanthan gum (XG) via redox initiator system of ammonium persulfate (APS) and N, N, N′, N′-tetramethylethylenediamine (TMED), in the presence of N, N′-methylenebisacrylamide (MBA) crosslinking agent, sodium bicarbonate foaming agent, a triblock copolymer of polyoxyethylene/polyoxypropylene/polyoxyethylene as a foam stabilizer. Characterization of SPH was done by FT-IR, TGA, SEM, HPC and GCMS. The effects of pH and salinity on the swelling aptitude of the SPH were investigated along with its degradability in Streptococcus bovis medium.