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61,005 resultsShowing papers similar to Hydrogels with Negligible Hysteresis, Enhanced Conductivity, and Good Absorbability Enabled by Synergistic Chain Entanglement and Polyoxometalates
ClearSynthetic Polymer-based Hydrogels and Properties
Researchers reviewed the synthesis, properties, and applications of synthetic polymer-based hydrogels, summarizing advances in zwitterionic and hybrid formulations that overcome brittleness and poor toughness to enable uses from drug delivery to neural interfaces and bioelectronic devices.
Synthesis, Characterization, and Evaluation of Silver Nanoparticle-Loaded Carboxymethyl Chitosan with Sulfobetaine Methacrylate Hydrogel Nanocomposites for Biomedical Applications
Researchers created a new nanocomposite hydrogel by embedding silver nanoparticles within a chitosan-based material for potential biomedical uses. The material showed strong antibacterial activity against both gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria while maintaining good biocompatibility with human cells. The study suggests this type of nanocomposite could be useful for wound dressing and other medical applications where infection control is important.
Methylated Biochemical Fulvic Acid-Derived Hydrogels with Improved Swelling Behavior and Water Retention Capacity
Researchers synthesized methylated fulvic acid-derived hydrogels and characterized their swelling behavior and sorption capacity for environmental contaminants, finding that methylation improved water uptake and contaminant binding compared to unmodified fulvic acid hydrogels. The materials show potential for controlled release and remediation applications in water treatment.
Progress, challenge and perspective of hydrogels application in food: a review
Researchers reviewed how hydrogels — water-absorbing polymer networks — can be engineered to detect and remove food contaminants including microplastics, heavy metals, and pesticides, as well as to extend food shelf life. While hydrogels show broad promise for food safety applications, the review notes challenges around scalability and the need for further real-world testing.
Hydrogels: A Comprehensive Review of Structure, Properties, and Multifaceted Applications
This review provides a systematic overview of hydrogel classification, cross-linking mechanisms, and properties, examining their applications in drug delivery, tissue engineering, soft robotics, and sustainable agriculture, and discussing stimuli-responsive behavior and emerging directions in the field.
Preparation of nanochitin hydrogels via ice templated chemical/physical crosslinking for microplastic removal
Researchers synthesized nanochitin hydrogels using ice-templated chemical and physical crosslinking with formaldehyde and ammonia, producing materials with enhanced mechanical properties that effectively captured microplastics from water.
Unusual Temperature Dependence of Water Sorption in Semicrystalline Hydrogels
Researchers discovered unusual temperature-dependent water sorption behavior in semicrystalline hydrogels, where water uptake increased at higher temperatures due to thermally induced structural transitions, opening possibilities for thermal management applications.
Polyaniline Sandwiched Ultra-strong PVA/PAA Hybrid Hydrogel for Low-temperature Resistant Supercapacitors and Strain Sensors
Researchers developed a tough, low-temperature-resistant hydrogel material for use in flexible electronics and energy storage devices. While focused on materials engineering, advances in flexible electronics that avoid brittle plastic components could reduce certain types of plastic waste.
Effect of Drug Encapsulation and Hydrothermal Exposure on the Structure and Molecular Dynamics of the Binary System Poly(3-hydroxybutyrate)-chitosan
Binary polymer films combining poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) and chitosan showed significant changes in crystallinity, hydrogen bonding, and rotational mobility compared to either polymer alone, with a 50/50 ratio representing a transition point between dispersed and continuous PHB phases.
Fabrication and Characterization of Biomass-derived Superabsorbent Bio-gel
Not relevant to microplastics — this paper develops and tests bio-based superabsorbent gels made from carboxymethyl cellulose as sustainable alternatives to petroleum-based superabsorbent polymers for water retention applications.
Mechanical Performance and Cytotoxicity of an Alginate/Polyacrylamide Bipolymer Network Developed for Medical Applications
Researchers developed alginate/polyacrylamide double-network hydrogels with enhanced mechanical properties for biomedical applications and evaluated their cytotoxicity, finding that optimized formulations achieved high toughness and biocompatibility suitable for tissue engineering scaffolds.
Design and synthesis of novel polyoxometalate-based binary and ternary nanohybrids for energy conversion and storage
This review summarizes the latest progress in polyoxometalate-based binary and ternary nanohybrids for energy conversion and storage applications. The study covers combinations of polyoxometalates with metals, semiconductors, and nanostructured carbon materials, focusing on their photoelectrochemical catalytic properties.
Polymeric Hydrogelsin Agriculture: EnvironmentalPerformance, Sustainability Challenges, and Future Perspectives
This review examines polymeric hydrogels as soil amendments for climate-smart agriculture, finding that these cross-linked water-swelling networks can improve soil moisture retention, reduce irrigation frequency, and enhance fertilizer utilization, while also addressing environmental persistence and degradation challenges.
Water-Content-Dependent Switching of the Bending Behavior of Photoresponsive Hydrogels Composed of Hydrophilic Acrylamide-Based Main Chains and Hydrophobic Azobenzene
This materials study developed hydrogels that respond to both light and water content, with potential applications in soft robotics and drug delivery. Smart hydrogel materials represent an emerging class of polymers whose environmental fate and potential for microplastic generation warrant study.
Effects of microcrystalline cellulose on some performance properties of chitosan aerogels
Researchers developed bio-based aerogels from chitosan reinforced with microcrystalline cellulose, testing their physical and mechanical properties. This work explores sustainable, biodegradable materials that could reduce reliance on conventional petroleum-based plastics.
Tuning the Properties of Xylan/Chitosan-Based Films by Temperature and Citric Acid Crosslinking Agent
This paper is not about microplastics in an environmental or health context; it describes the development of xylan-chitosan bioplastic films crosslinked with citric acid as a petroleum-free alternative packaging material, focused on material properties rather than pollution or exposure.
Effect of Nano-Silica and Sorbitol on the Properties of Chitosan-Based Composite Films
Chitosan composite films incorporating nano-silica and sorbitol were prepared and characterized, finding that the additives improved film flexibility and mechanical properties while maintaining biodegradability, with potential applications in food packaging.
Stronger when wet: Aquatically robust chitinous objects via zero-waste coordination with metal ions
Researchers developed a fully biodegradable material made from chitosan — a naturally abundant molecule found in shells and fungi — that actually gets stronger when wet by using trace amounts of nickel to form water-activated molecular bonds. Unlike most synthetic plastics, this material degrades naturally and could serve as a sustainable alternative for water-resistant products.
Fundamentals and Advances in Stimuli-Responsive Hydrogels and Their Applications: A Review
This review covers stimuli-responsive hydrogels, which are smart materials that change shape or behavior in response to environmental triggers. Among their many applications, these materials can remove heavy metals and pollutants from water, and they show promise in biomedical settings like drug delivery and wound healing. While not focused specifically on microplastics, these technologies could be adapted for environmental cleanup of plastic pollution.
Hierarchy of hybrid materials. Part-II: The place of organics-on-inorganics in it, their composition and applications
This review classifies and examines organic-on-inorganic hybrid materials, covering their structure, properties, and wide-ranging applications from catalysis to biomedicine, highlighting how combining organic molecules with metallic and non-metallic inorganic substrates creates synergistic material properties.
Mucin-Inspired Thermogels for Programmable Nanoplastic Removal in Water Purification
Researchers developed mucin-inspired amphiphilic bottlebrush copolymers that form thermally responsive hydrogels capable of capturing nanoplastics from water, achieving removal efficiencies of 68–100% for polystyrene nanoparticles (20–1,000 nm), with a reversible gel-syneresis cycle enabling both passive filtration and particle recovery for trace analysis.
Mucin-Inspired Thermogels for Programmable Nanoplastic Removal in Water Purification
Researchers developed mucin-inspired amphiphilic bottlebrush copolymers that form thermally responsive hydrogels capable of capturing nanoplastics from water, achieving removal efficiencies of 68–100% for polystyrene nanoparticles (20–1,000 nm), with a reversible gel-syneresis cycle enabling both passive filtration and particle recovery for trace analysis.
Design and environmental applications of polyoxometalate-ionic liquid (POM-IL)-based molecular and composite materials
This chemistry thesis developed polyoxometalate-ionic liquid materials for applications in corrosion protection and water purification. It is a materials chemistry study with no direct connection to environmental microplastic pollution.
Hydrogels Classification According to the Physical or Chemical Interactions and as Stimuli-Sensitive Materials
This review classifies hydrogels based on their internal cross-linking mechanisms and their responsiveness to external stimuli such as pH, temperature, light, and enzymes. Researchers examined both physically cross-linked hydrogels, which form through reversible interactions, and chemically cross-linked hydrogels with permanent covalent bonds. The study highlights diverse biomedical applications including drug delivery, tissue engineering scaffolds, biosensors, and actuators.