Swelling and Antimicrobial Activity Characterization of a GO-Reinforced Gelatin—Whey Hydrogel
Pompilia Mioara Purcea Lopes,
Dumitriţa Moldovan,
Radu Fechete,
Doina Prodan,
Carmen Rodica Pop,
Ancuța M. Rotar,
Violeta Popescu
Affiliations
Pompilia Mioara Purcea Lopes
Physics and Chemistry Department, Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, 28 Memorandumului Str., 400114 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Dumitriţa Moldovan
Physics and Chemistry Department, Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, 28 Memorandumului Str., 400114 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Radu Fechete
Physics and Chemistry Department, Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, 28 Memorandumului Str., 400114 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Doina Prodan
Composite Materials Department, Chemistry Research Institute “Raluca Ripan”, “Babes-Bolyai” University, 30 Fantanele Str., 400294 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Carmen Rodica Pop
Department of Food Science, Faculty of Food Science and Technology, University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine Cluj-Napoca, 64 Calea Floresti Str., 400509 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Ancuța M. Rotar
Department of Food Science, Faculty of Food Science and Technology, University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine Cluj-Napoca, 64 Calea Floresti Str., 400509 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Violeta Popescu
Physics and Chemistry Department, Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, 28 Memorandumului Str., 400114 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Whey-based hydrogel samples with increasing concentrations of graphene oxide (GO) were studied, against a control sample (M), for swelling behavior in light of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and mathematical models of the diffusion process and for antibacterial activity. Graphene oxide (GO) is an optimal filler for whey-based hydrogels, giving them improved mechanical and swelling properties at low concentrations. Crosslinking induces a certain stiffness of the hydrogels, which is why only the first part of the swelling process (<60%) follows the first-order model, while during the whole time interval, the swelling process follows the second-order diffusion model. The NMR relaxometry results are consistent with the swelling behavior of GO-reinforced whey–gelatin composite hydrogels, showing that higher GO concentrations induce a higher degree of cross-linking and, therefore, lower swelling capacity. Only hydrogel samples with higher GO concentrations demonstrated antibacterial activity.
