Polymer Synthesis and Mechanic Tests | Making polyacrylamide/ Alginate hydrogel Composite 

hydrogel synthesis methods, hydrogel synthesis, crosslinker, polyacrylamide hydrogel synthesis, alginate hydrogel synthesis. Alginate/polyacrylamide hybrid hydrogel has attracted intense interests in different fields, but the low tensile strength and stiffness limit its comprehensive application. In this hydrogel system, the alginate-cation network plays an important role. Thus, based on the unique structure of alginate and its special interaction with different metal cations, we designed a new method of introducing Calcium (Ca) ions to crosslink the alginate sufficiently, creating a stronger alginate network. As a result, the prepared hybrid hydrogel exhibits enhanced strength and stiffness, which may serve as a new way to develop stronger hydrogel. All these results showed that the resultant dual-cation (Ca+2) crosslinked hydrogel exhibits superior mechanical strength than that of single-cation (Na+) crosslinked hydrogel. This research may expand the scope of practical applications of this strong hybrid hydrogel in the load-bearing field.