Facile fabrication of novel polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane/carboxymethyl cellulose hybrid hydrogel based on supermolecular interactions

Reactive octa-aminopropyl polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (POSS-NH2) has a nano-sized structure with a cubic silica core and octa-aminopropyl groups distributed at eight corners. Carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) is often used as a hydrogel polymer because of its water-solubility, renewability, biodegradability and biocompatibility. Novel POSS/CMC hybrid hydrogel was fabricatied here by the aggregation of POSS-NH2 nanoparticles and the formation of POSS-CMC hybrid block copolymers, which was driven by the hydrogen bonding interactions between the amino groups of POSS-NH2 and the carboxyl groups of CMC. D-(+)-gluconic acid delta-lactone (DGL) was used to alter the pH of the system which can further control the formation of hydrogen-bonding interactions. Our method provides a facile and effective route to fabricate novel hybrid hydrogel based on CMC or other cellulose derivatives. (c) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.