화학공학소재연구정보센터
Macromolecules, Vol.49, No.17, 6687-6693, 2016
Tuning the Viscoelastic Behavior of Hybrid Hydrogels Composed of a Physical and a Chemical Network by the Addition of an Organic Solvent
The influence of isopropanol (IPA) addition on the viscoelastic behavior of hybrid hydrogels which were prepared from chemically cross-linked copolymers of N,N-dimethylacrylamide (DMA), 2-(N-ethylperfluorooctanesulfonamido)ethyl methacrylate (FOSM) and cinnamoyloxyethyl acrylate was investigated by dynamic oscillatory shear. The hybrid gels were composed of a supramolecular network formed by phase-separated FOSM nano domains that served as physical cross-links and a chemical network derived from photo-cross-linking the cinnamate groups. The linear viscoelastic (LVE) behavior of the gels was tunable by changing the solvent ratio (IPA/water) and/Or temperature. When the swelling solvent was pure water or pure IPA, the materials were hydrogels and organogels, respectively. When the IPA concentration increased from a molar ratio of IPA:FOSM of zero to 80:1, the cross-link density of the gels decreased due to weakening Of the physical network as a result : of solvation of the hydrophobic interactions by IPA. Above an IPA:FOSM ratio of 80:1, essentially only the covalent network persisted and the gels behaved as elastic solids. The design of these hydrogels/organogels provides three degrees of freedom for tuning the LVE properties: copolymer composition, temperature, and solvent. They also provide responsive behavior of the gels to changes, of temperature and/or solvent.