• Macromolecular Research
• /
• v.17 no.1
• /
• pp.26-30
• /
• 2009

To modify and strengthen the properties of PHEMA hydrogel, composite hydrogels containing varying amounts of a Pluronic (PEO-PPO-PEO) component were synthesized by bulk polymerization of HEMA in the presence of Pluronic dimethacrylate under mild photo initiating conditions. The effects of the Pluronic component on gel properties were investigated by measuring the degree of swelling with its temperature responsive behavior, the mechanical properties, and the morphology of the composite hydrogels. With increased Pluronic content, the modified PHEMA hydrogels exhibited an increase in the degree of swelling, and the swelling showed an enhanced thermo-responsive behavior that was completely reversible. In addition, improved mechanical strength and the development of a microporous gel morphology were observed in hydrogels containing Pluronic.

• Membrane and Water Treatment
• /
• v.11 no.2
• /
• pp.97-109
• /
• 2020

Membrane fouling is the main drawback of membrane technology. Frequent membrane cleaning and membrane replacement are, therefore, required to reduce membrane fouling that causes permeate flux reduction, lower rejection, or higher operating pressure. Studies have proved that the alteration of membrane properties is the key controlling factor in lessening membrane fouling. Among stimuli-responsive membranes, thermo-responsive membrane is the most popular, with a drastic phase transition and swelling-shrinking behavior caused by the temperature change. In this study, the thermo-responsive ability of two commercial membranes, PolyCera® Titan membrane and PolyCera® Hydro membrane, at different temperatures was studied on the antifouling function of the membrane in palm oil mill effluent (POME) treatment. The evaluation of the membrane's thermo-responsive ability was done through three cycles of adsorption (fouling) and desorption (defouling) processes in a membrane filtration process. The experimental result depicted that PolyCera® Hydro membrane had a higher membrane permeability of 67.869 L/㎡.h.bar than PolyCera® Titan membrane at 46.011 L/㎡.h.bar. However, the high membrane permeability of PolyCera® Hydro membrane was compensated with low removal efficiency. PolyCera® Titan membrane with a smaller mean pore size had better rejection performance than PolyCera® Hydro membrane for all tested parameters. On the other hand, PolyCera® Titan membrane had a better hydrodynamic cleaning efficiency than PolyCera® Hydro membrane regardless of the hydrodynamic cleaning temperature. The best hydrodynamic cleaning performed by PolyCera® Titan membrane was at 35℃ with the flux recovery ratio (FRR) of 99.17 ± 1.43%. The excellent thermo-responsive properties of the PolyCera® Titan membrane could eventually reduce the frequency of membrane replacement and lessen the use of chemicals for membrane cleaning. This outstanding exploration helps to provide a solution to the chemical industry and membrane technology bottleneck, which is the membrane fouling, thus reducing the operating cost incurred by the membrane fouling.

• Textile Coloration and Finishing
• /
• v.34 no.3
• /
• pp.207-216
• /
• 2022

Hydrogels have gained considerable attention in various fields due to their easily transformative ability by different stimulation. In addition, metal-based conductive additives can enable the hydrogels to be conductive with dimension change. Although the development of the additives offered enhanced electrical properties to the hydrogels, correspondingly enhanced mechanical properties may limit the volume and electrical properties switching after stimulation. Here we prepared poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM) thermo-responsive hydrogel that has a 32℃ of low critical solution temperature and added liquid metal particles (LMPs) as conductive additives, possessing soft and stretchable benefits. The LMPs enabled PNIPAM (PNIPAM/LMPs) hydrogels to be constricted over 32℃ with a high volume switching ratio of 15.2 when deswelled. Once the LMPs are spontaneously oxidized in hydrogel culture, the LMPs can release gallium ions into the hydrogel nature. The released gallium ions and oxidized LMPs enhanced the modulus of the PNIPAM/LMPs hydrogel, triggering high mechanical stability during repeated swelling/deswelling behavior. Lastly, highly constricted PNIPAM/LMPs hydrogel provided a 5x10⁶ of electrical switching after deswelling, and the switching ratio was closely maintained after repeated swelling/deswelling transformation. This study opens up opportunities for hydrogel use requiring thermo-responsive and high electrical switching fields.

• Macromolecular Research
• /
• v.15 no.4
• /
• pp.363-369
• /
• 2007

Novel biodegradable elastic hydrogels, based on hydrophilic and hydrophobic polymer blocks, were synthesized via the radical crosslinking reaction of diacrylates of poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) and poly(${\varepsilon}-caprolactone$) (PCL). PEG and PCL diols were diacrylated with acryloyl chloride in the presence of triethylamine, with the reaction confirmed by FT-IR and $^1H-NMR$ measurements. The diacrylate polymers were used as building-blocks for the syntheses of a series of hydro gels, with different block compositions, by simply varying the feed ratios and molecular weights of the block components. The swelling ratio of the hydrogels was controlled by the balance between the hydrophilic and hydrophobic polymer blocks. Usually, the swelling ratio increases with increasing PEG content and decreasing block length within the network structure. The hydrogels exhibited negative thermo-sensitive swelling behavior due to the coexistence of hydrophilic and hydrophobic polymer components in their network structure, and such thermo-responsive swelling/deswelling behavior could be repeated using a temperature cycle, without any significant change in the swelling ratio. In vitro degradation tests showed that degradation occurred over a 3 to 8 month period. Due to their biodegradability, biocompatibility, elasticity and functionality, these hydrogels could be utilized in various biomedical applications, such as tissue engineering and drug delivery systems.

• Polymer(Korea)
• /
• v.37 no.4
• /
• pp.539-546
• /
• 2013

Amino group-terminated poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAAm-$NH_2$) was synthesized via a radical polymerization of N-isopropylacrylamide (NIPAAm) using 2-aminoethanethiol hydrochloride (AESH) as a chain transfer agent. The molecular weight of the PNIPAAm-$NH_2$ was controlled by changing the concentration of AESH. The LCST of the aqueous solution of PNIPAAm-$NH_2$ increased slightly with increasing the AESH concentration. Alginate-g-PNIPAAm copolymer was synthesized by grafting PNIPAAm-$NH_2$ onto sodium alginate using N-(3-dimethylaminopropyl)-N'-ethylcarbodiimide and N-hydroxysuccinimide. The formation of the grafted copolymers was confirmed by FTIR spectroscopy, solubility in water, and SEM-EDS. Alginate-g-PNIPAAm also exhibited swelling-deswelling behavior. However, it showed a LCST at a slightly increased temperature compared to PNIPAAm. The swelling ratio of the alginate-g-PNIPAAm hydrogel increased with the increase of the grafted PNIPAAm content.

• Polymer(Korea)
• /
• v.38 no.5
• /
• pp.626-631
• /
• 2014

Water purification requires a large amount of energy that can cause pollution problems. For this reason, forward osmosis (FO) has attracted intense interest that required a relatively low amount of energy for water purification. The forward osmosis has a serious problem that it needs drawing agents creating osmotic pressure to extract water from contaminated water. In this study, a copolymer of zwitterionic moiety and an interpenetrating polymer network (IPN) hydrogel based on thermo-responsive polymer hydrogel, poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM) were prepared and attached on FO membranes, which successfully played the role of drawing agents. In the copolymer hydrogel, its swelling ratio was improved, but thermo-sensitivity was decreased. The swelling ratio and thermo-sensitivity of IPN hydrogel was lowered. We could confirm that swelling ratio is related to osmotic pressure.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
• /
• v.35 no.8
• /
• pp.2391-2399
• /
• 2014

Novel dual responsive pectin hydrogels composed from poly(acrylamidoglycolic acid-co-vinylcaprolactam)/Pectin (PAV-PC) and also PAV-PC hydrogels are used as templates for the production of silver nanoparticles. 5-Fluorouracil is an anticancer drug and has been loaded in situ into PAV-PC hydrogels. Structure and morphology characterization of PAV-PC hydrogels were investigated by fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, differential scanning calorimetry, thermo gravimetric analysis, X-ray diffraction studies, scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. The results revealed a molecular level dispersion of the drug in PAV-PC hydrogels. In vitro release of 5-fluorouracil from the PAV-PC hydrogels has been carried out in GIT fluids as well as in various temperatures. 5-Fluorouracil released from PAV-PC hydrogels was 50% at pH 1.2, and 85% at pH 7.4 within 24 h. The release profile was characterized with PAV-PC hydrogels and initial burst effect was significantly reduced in two buffer media (1.2 and 7.4), followed by a continuous and controlled release phase, the drug release mechanism from polymer was due to Fickian diffusion. In situ fabrication of silver nanoparticles inside the hydrogel network via the reduction of sodium borohydrate by PAV-PC chains led to hydrogel nanocomposites. The diameter of the nanocomposites was about 50-100 nm, suitable for uptake within the gastrointestinal tract due to their nanosize range and mucoadhesive properties. These nanocomposite PAV-PC hydrogels showed strong antimicrobial activity towards Bacillus subtilis (G+ve) and Escherichia coli (G-ve).