Study on swelling behaviour of hydrogel based on acrylic acid and pectin from dragon fruit

Biocompatible hydrogel based on acrylic acid (AA) and pectin was synthesized using gamma irradiation technique. AA was grafted onto pectin backbone that was extracted from dragon fruit under pH 3.5 and extracts and ethanol ratios (ER) 1:0.5. The optimum hydrogel system with high swelling capacity was obtained by varying the dose of radiation and ratio of pectin:AA. FTIR-ATR spectroscopy was used to verify the interaction while thermal properties were analyzed by TGA and DSC. Swelling studies was carried out in aqueous solutions with different pH values as to determine the pH sensitivity. The results show that the hydrogel with a ratio of 2:3 (pectin:AA) and 30 kGy radiation dose has the highest swelling properties at pH of 10.