Swelling properties of CMC-based hydrogel from water hyacinth with piper betel leaves extract addition

A hydrogel is a network of the polymer chain with a three-dimensional structure that can be formed from natural or synthetic polymers. Hydrogel has an ability to absorb and to retain a large amount of water. The performance parameter of the hydrogel in absorbing water is called as swelling ratio that depends on properties and structure of its polymers. The network of hydrogel can be modified by adding piper betel leaves extract to add antibacterial properties. In this study, the observation is focused on swelling ratio properties of the hydrogel. Hydrogel is synthesized through carboxymethylcellulose (CMC) from water hyacinth cellulose as the main polymer, piper betel leaves extract as an additive that has antibacterial properties, and citric acid as chemical cross-linker. Variation of composition CMC/piper betel leaves extract are 95%:5% (w/w); 90%:10% (w/w); and 85%:15% (w/w). Variation of citric acid composition are 10% (w/w) and 15% (w/w). Addition piper betel leaves extract to CMC based hydrogel has effect in swelling ratio. The highest swelling ratio test result obtained at hydrogel on the composition of water hyacinth CMC/piper betel leaves extract 95%:5% (w/w) with 10% (w/w) citric acid concentration, has the swelling ratio of 4134.11%.