Studies of crosslinked biopolymer structure for environmental tools in terms of the rate of weight swelling ratio, viscosity, and biodegradability: part A

The crosslinking reaction caused by blending different biopolymers and/or adding a crosslinking agent to biopolymers was studied. The rate of crosslinking reaction was estimated with weight swelling ratio (WSR), viscosity, and biodegradability. The crosslinked material from blending two biopolymers or mixing a crosslinking agent with a mixture of two biopolymers showed a polymeric volume change, a high microbial resistance even after 80 days, and a viscosity increased because of chemical functional groups to form extensive intra- and interpenetrating polymer networks (IPNs). The organized IPN is a base block in building a three-dimensional (3-D) crosslinked biopolymer structure. This 3-D structure can be utilized in the environmental and geotechnical applications such as an environmental barrier or containment to encapsulate and treat hazardous materials against toxic flow in a subsurface engineering system.