Dear Shruti,
You should consider the answer provided by Dr. Esmat. If you should keep the integrity of your hydrogel, the procedure described in this paper (DOI: 10.5935/0100-4042.20150008) could be helpful. Take care of the particle size.
Esmat Jalalvandi
I have an similar query, is lyophilization of hydrogel is better then oven drying at 40-45dC ??Shruti Khanna Good question. I was also confused about it ?
Article The evaluation of temperature and pH influences on equilibri...
can you look in the article. may be good for you
Dear Shruti Khanna,
Evaporation of water allows the rearrangement of the chains in the polymeric networks. This is because of the solubility of polymeric chains in water leading to swelling. Therefore, as the solvent is evaporated in the gravimetric method, the chains start shrinking and the dried hydrogel obtained has less volume/smaller size than the one in aqueous phase (swollen phase). In the freeze drying, the hydrogel in the solid frozen phase is dried directly into vapours without going into the aqueous phase. Therefore, the hydrogels may not completely shrink as in the above method and be more fluffy. In my opinion, evaporation and vacuum drying may be preferred although choice also depends upon the intended application.
Still, the hydrogel powder is commonly dried by lyophilization. The swelling ratio studies can be performed by taking the hydrogel powder in a dialysis bag/tube as shown in the following paper:
Article Synthesis of β-cyclodextrin hydrogel nanoparticles for impro...
Good luck,
Mubashar
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