*2.4. Synthesis of Reduced Graphene Oxide Incorporated Gum Tragacanth-cl-N,N-dimethylacrylamide (GT-cl-poly(DMA)*/*RGO) Hydrogel Composite*

For the preparation of reduced graphene oxide incorporated gum tragacanth-cl-*N*,*N*-dimethylacrylamide hydrogel composite, 0.5 g of GT was added in a solution of RGO (0.005–0.025 g in 11 mL of deionized water). Physical agitation was applied until the mixture becomes homogenously uniform. Thereafter, the mixture was treated similarly following the procedure in Section 2.3. The incorporation of RGO was confirmed physically by monitoring the color change from light orange to black, as presented in Scheme 1. The optimized quantities that are used in the preparation of hydrogels are given in Table 3.

**Scheme 1.** General scheme for the synthesis of gum tragacanth-cl-*N,N*-dimethylacrylamide hydrogel and reduced graphene oxide incorporated gum tragacanth-cl-*N,N*-dimethylacrylamide hydrogel composite.


**Table 3.** Optimized quantities used for the preparation of hydrogels.
