Swelling Kinetics of Hydrogels of Cellulose Acetate

摘要

During the process of water absorption by hydrogels, the polymeric network undergoes a transition from glassy to rubbery state. Diffusion of species within the network is normally related to the rate at which this transition occurs and this directly influences the possible applications for the hydrogel. In this work we present some kinetic studies of the water absorption process by hydrogels prepared with cellulose acetate (CA) and pyromellitic dianhydride (PMDA). The investigation focuses on the mechanism of water absorption in order to provide diffusion coefficients, heat of mixing and activation energy of the diffusion process.