Swelling and mechanical behaviors of carbon nanotube/poly (vinyl alcohol) hybrid hydrogels

In this paper, carbon nanotubes (CNTs) were added into poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) hydrogels to modify their mechanical properties. A series of CNT/PVA hybrid hydrogels were prepared by freezing/thawing method. The mechanical and swelling properties of all hybrid hydrogels are better than those of the original PVA hydrogel. Especially, for CNTP-0.5 specimen with 0.5% w/w CNTs, its tensile modulus, tensile strength and strain at break are increased by 78.2%, 94.3% and 12.7%, respectively. And its swelling behavior is different from that of the pure PVA hydrogel. Its final swelling ratios at room temperature and 310 K are increased by 35.7% and 44.9%, respectively. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.