Hydrogels with Dual Thermoresponsive Mechanical Performance
Hui Guo1,2, Cécile Mussault1,2, Alba Marcellan1,2
1Soft Matter Sciences and Engineering, ESPCI Paris, PSL Research University, CNRS UMR 7615, 10 rue Vauquelin, F-75231, Paris cedex 05, France.
Macromolecular Rapid Communications
|July 19, 2017
Summary
Novel dual thermoresponsive chemical hydrogels were developed. These materials exhibit unique temperature-dependent properties, enabling applications in advanced thermotoughening wet materials.
Area of Science:
- Polymer Chemistry
- Materials Science
Background:
- Thermoresponsive hydrogels are crucial for smart materials.
- Controlling hydrogel properties with temperature is an active research area.
Purpose of the Study:
- To design and synthesize dual thermoresponsive chemical hydrogels.
- To investigate the impact of dual temperature responsiveness on material properties.
Main Methods:
- A simple and versatile procedure was employed for hydrogel synthesis.
- Poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) side-chains were incorporated into a poly(N-acryloylglycinamide) network.
Main Results:
- The synthesized hydrogels demonstrated two distinct phase transitions (UCST and LCST).
- These transitions significantly altered the swelling, rheological, and mechanical characteristics of the hydrogels.
- The hydrogels exhibited thermo-schizophrenic behavior.
Conclusions:
- Novel dual thermoresponsive hydrogels were successfully created.
- These materials offer tunable properties across a wide temperature range.
- The findings support the development of advanced thermotoughening wet materials.
