Preparation of cellulose-based hydrogel: a review

This paper reviews the preparation of hydrogel based on cellulose and its derivatives. Cellulose is the most abundant natural organic polymer on earth. To date, the exploitation of cellulose has been studied in various applications. However, cellulose has low solubility in water and most organic solvents. Thus, specific solvent systems such as NaOH/urea, NaOH/thiourea, lithium chloride, and ionic liquids need to be employed to vary cellulose application. The hydrogel is a 3D network structure that can retain a tremendous amount of water and highly dependent on the crosslinking property. It is important to use a compatible technique for a specific purpose. The paper discusses the materials and crosslinking techniques via chemical, physical, and polymerization, to produce hydrogels from dissolved cellulose and its derivatives.