The TiO₂ dispersed physically cross-linked polymer hydrogels were synthesized through a single step free radical addition polymerization mechanism based on acrylic acid and gum Arabic (GA) as polymer constituents, and ferric ions (Fe³⁺) as physical cross-linker. The effect of TiO₂ powder was investigated on thermal and mechanical properties of the hydrogels by dispersion of 0.01, 0.02 and 0.03 g of TiO₂ in hydrogels. The prepared hydrogels were successfully characterized through FTIR, XRD, SEM and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). For the mechanical properties, dynamic mechanical analysis and universal testing machine (UTM) were used. The DMA results showed that the storage modulus was increased with the TiO₂, while UTM results showed that 0.02 g of TiO₂ powder significantly enhanced the fracture stress, elastic modulus, toughness and stretchability by 4514%, 4328%, 4124% and 20%, respectively, compared to the virgin hydrogels. Cole–Cole plot confirmed the homogeneity and viscoelastic behavior of the system, while manual load bearing and shape memory test showed that the hydrogels bear a load of 2.5 kg for a long time and it is recovered within 10 s to its original state. The materials can be applied for the synthesis of artificial body parts in the field of bio-engineering. The use of un-modified GA for the synthesis of hydrogels will open a new window for the researchers working in this field.

中文翻译：

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物理交联的阿拉伯胶基阿拉伯聚合物水凝胶的合成，具有增强的机械性能，承载力和形状记忆性能

以丙烯酸和阿拉伯树胶（GA）为聚合物成分，以三价铁离子（Fe ³⁺）为物理交联剂，通过一步自由基加成聚合机理合成了TiO ₂分散的物理交联聚合物水凝胶。通过将0.01、0.02和0.03 g的TiO ₂分散在水凝胶中，研究了TiO ₂粉末对水凝胶的热和机械性能的影响。通过FTIR，XRD，SEM和热重分析（TGA）成功表征了制备的水凝胶。对于机械性能，使用了动态力学分析和通用测试机（UTM）。DMA结果表明，随着TiO _2的增加，储能模量增加。，而UTM结果表明，与纯水凝胶相比，0.02 g TiO ₂粉末显着提高了断裂应力，弹性模量，韧性和可拉伸性，分别提高了4514％，4328％，4124％和20％。Cole-Cole图确认了系统的均质性和粘弹性，而手动承重和形状记忆测试表明水凝胶长时间承受2.5 kg的载荷，并在10 s内恢复到原始状态。该材料可用于生物工程领域中的人造身体部位的合成。使用未修饰的GA合成水凝胶将为该领域的研究人员打开一个新的窗口。