Search research articles

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Related Concept Videos

Polymer Classification: Crystallinity

Polymer Classification: Crystallinity

Unlike ionic or small covalent molecules, polymers do not form crystalline solids due to the diffusion limitations of their long-chain structures. However, polymers contain microscopic crystalline domains separated by amorphous domains.
Crystalline domains are the regions where polymer chains are aligned in an orderly manner and held together in proximity by intermolecular forces. For example, chains in the crystalline domains of polyethylene and nylon are bound together by van der Waals...

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by

Same author

Probing the Solution Structure of Amphiphilic Polymer Flower-Micelles Using Fluorescence and Hyper-Rayleigh Scattering Methods.

Langmuir : the ACS journal of surfaces and colloids·2026

Same author

Monitoring Vaccine-Induced Antibody Levels Using Carbon Nanotube-Based Field-Effect Transistors.

Analytical chemistry·2025

Same author

Tracking solvent-induced conformational collapse of periodically grafted amphiphilic polymers using PFG NMR diffusometry.

Soft matter·2025

Same author

Design of Clickable Aromatic Donor-Acceptor Pairs for Easy Installation onto Polymers.

Langmuir : the ACS journal of surfaces and colloids·2024

Same author

Hyperbranched polymers: growing richer in flavours with time.

Chemical communications (Cambridge, England)·2024

Same author

Amphiphilic Polymer Hydrogel-supported Catalysts: Tuning the Accessibility to the Catalytic Site by Molecular Jacketing.

Chemistry, an Asian journal·2023

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Nov 20, 2025

Fabricating Degradable Thermoresponsive Hydrogels on Multiple Length Scales via Reactive Extrusion, Microfluidics, Self-assembly, and Electrospinning

Fabricating Degradable Thermoresponsive Hydrogels on Multiple Length Scales via Reactive Extrusion, Microfluidics, Self-assembly, and Electrospinning

Published on: April 16, 2018

Fine-Tuning Crystallization-Induced Gelation in Amphiphilic Double-Brush Polymers.

Sujoy Bej¹, Ashish Dhayani^2,3, Praveen Vemula²

¹Department of Inorganic and Physical Chemistry, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore 560012, India.

Langmuir : the ACS Journal of Surfaces and Colloids

|January 26, 2021

Summary

Researchers synthesized tuneable, stimuli-responsive hydrogels from biobenign itaconate polymers. Varying alkyl chain length and adding spacers controlled thermal and mechanical properties for potential biomedical uses.

More Related Videos

Preparation and Friction Force Microscopy Measurements of Immiscible, Opposing Polymer Brushes

Preparation and Friction Force Microscopy Measurements of Immiscible, Opposing Polymer Brushes

Published on: December 24, 2014

Interlinked Macroporous 3D Scaffolds from Microgel Rods

Interlinked Macroporous 3D Scaffolds from Microgel Rods

Published on: June 16, 2022

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Nov 20, 2025

Fabricating Degradable Thermoresponsive Hydrogels on Multiple Length Scales via Reactive Extrusion, Microfluidics, Self-assembly, and Electrospinning

Fabricating Degradable Thermoresponsive Hydrogels on Multiple Length Scales via Reactive Extrusion, Microfluidics, Self-assembly, and Electrospinning

Published on: April 16, 2018

Preparation and Friction Force Microscopy Measurements of Immiscible, Opposing Polymer Brushes

Preparation and Friction Force Microscopy Measurements of Immiscible, Opposing Polymer Brushes

Published on: December 24, 2014

Interlinked Macroporous 3D Scaffolds from Microgel Rods

Interlinked Macroporous 3D Scaffolds from Microgel Rods

Published on: June 16, 2022

Area of Science:

Polymer Chemistry
Materials Science
Biomedical Engineering

Background:

Hydrogels are water-swollen polymer networks with diverse applications.
Stimuli-responsive hydrogels change properties in response to external stimuli like temperature.
Controlling hydrogel thermal and mechanical properties is crucial for targeted applications.

Purpose of the Study:

To synthesize amphiphilic double-brush polymers based on itaconate diesters.
To tailor the thermal and mechanical properties of the resulting hydrogels.
To investigate the effect of alkyl chain length and oxyethylene spacers on hydrogel behavior.

Main Methods:

Synthesis of amphiphilic double-brush polymers with varying alkyl chain lengths (C12-C18) and a constant MPEG350 segment.
Incorporation of oxyethylene spacers to decouple side-chain crystallization from the polymer backbone.
Characterization of hydrogel properties using rheology and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC).

Main Results:

Hydrogel formation was driven by alkyl segment crystallization, confirmed by matching rheological and DSC transitions.
Melting temperatures ranged from 30 to 56 °C, and storage modulus varied from 220 to 970 Pa by modifying alkyl chain length and spacers.
Thermal and shear-induced gel-to-sol transitions were reversible, though network recovery after shear was slow (~80% instant recovery).
Copolymerization offered intermediate melting temperatures, while co-gelation of homopolymers showed distinct transitions.

Conclusions:

Amphiphilic itaconate-based double-brush polymers form tuneable, stimuli-responsive hydrogels.
Alkyl chain length and spacer incorporation effectively control hydrogel melting temperature and mechanical strength.
These biobenign hydrogels show promise for biomedical applications due to their tunable properties.