A one-pot strategy for preparation of carboxymethyl xylan-based hydrogels with antibacterial property

Hemicellulose-based hydrogels has been drawn more and more attention in recent years. In this paper, a series of carboxymethyl xylan-based hydrogels consisting carboxymethyl xylan (CMX), acrylamide (AM) and ε-poly-(L-lysine) carbon dot (PL-CD) were synthesized by one-pot strategy via free radical polymerization. The N, N′-methylenebis(acrylamide) (MBA) was used as the crosslinking agent to form networks of the hydrogels. The PL-CD was used as the antibacterial agent and nano-reinforcing agent to improve the antibacterial properties and mechanical properties of the hydrogels. The contents of AM, crosslinking agent and PL-CD had obvious effects on the compressive strength, swelling ratio (SR) and antibacterial properties. With the increase of AM, MBA and PL-CD contents, the mechanical properties were improved. The SEM spectra confirmed the porous structure of the hydrogels. Furthermore, the pH-responsive behavior was also investigated by SR.