Sonochemically Synthesized Lignin Nanoparticles and its Application in the Development of Nanocomposite Hydrogel

The hydrophilic gels or hydrogels are chemically or physically crosslinked polymeric network which are capable in absorbing a large quantity of water in their three-dimensional polymeric network. In contrast with synthetic polymer hydrogels, biopolymeric hydrogels are biocompatible, flexible, biodegradable, and non-toxic, hence they have received a great attention in numerous biomedical, engineering, and industrial applications. Conventionally developed synthetic polymer [i.e., polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)] and biopolymer [i.e., chitosan (CS)] hydrogels have insignificant physical as well as chemical properties, which can be overcome by the development of these hydrogels in association with nanoparticles. The present study focuses on the synthesis of lignin nanoparticles derived from natural resources by using ultrasound and its application in the development of CS–PVA hydrogel. The nanoparticles were found to be in the range of 10–50 nm. Physical crosslinking method has been adopted for the development of hydrogel. Further to examine the thermal stability of hydrogel TGA was performed. Post addition of nanoparticles in CS–PVA hydrogel manifested a significant increase in the thermal stability. Considering numerous advantages of the proposed nanocomposite hydrogel, this could be possibly used in drug delivery, food packaging and wound dressing