3.4.2. Effect of curing temperature and curing time
Fig. 1b shows the effect of curing temperature on the swelling ratio of the hydrogel. It is seen that, raising the curing temperature from 120 to 130 ◦C enhance the swelling ratio of the prepared hydrogel. Further increase in curing temperature has no significant effect on the swelling ratio. Obviously, 130 ◦C represents optimum curing temperature for preparation of the CMC hydrogel particles with ECH as crosslinker.