Issue 13, 2009
From the journal:

Soft Matter

Smart hydrogels based on double responsive triblock terpolymers†

Stefan Reinicke,a   Joachim Schmelz,a   Alain Lapp,b   Matthias Karg,c   Thomas Hellwegc  and  Holger Schmalz*a  

* Corresponding authors

a Makromolekulare Chemie II, Universität Bayreuth, D-95440 Bayreuth, Germany

b Laboratoire Léon Brillouin, CEA de Saclay, 99191 Gif sur Yvette, France

c Physikalische Chemie I, Universität Bayreuth, D-95440 Bayreuth, Germany

Abstract

In this work a new kind of “smart” hydrogel is presented, which is composed of a poly(2-vinylpyridine)-block-poly(ethylene oxide)-block-poly(glycidyl methyl ether-co-ethyl glycidyl ether) (P2VP-b-PEO-b-P(GME-co-EGE)) triblock terpolymer. The thermo-sensitive poly(glycidyl methyl ether-co-ethyl glycidyl ether) block exhibits a cloud point which is easily adjustable by the comonomer ratio. Copolymerization of GME and EGE produces nearly statistical copolymers with a weak preferential incorporation of GME, exhibiting a sharp coil-to-globule transition with almost no hysteresis. The triblock terpolymers aggregate in aqueous solution triggered by both pH and temperature. At sufficiently high concentration this stimuli-responsive behaviour leads to a reversible gel formation with gel strengths and transition points tuneable by pH, temperature, concentration, and block lengths. At pH = 7, an unique gel–sol–gel transition accompanied with a strengthening of the gel is observed upon heating using rheology. Moreover, the structure of the low temperature gel phase is investigated by means of small-angle neutron scattering (SANS).

Graphical abstract: Smart hydrogels based on double responsive triblock terpolymers

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Article information

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1039/B900539K
Article type
Paper
Submitted
13 Jan 2009
Accepted
19 Mar 2009
First published
22 Apr 2009

Soft Matter, 2009,5, 2648-2657

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Smart hydrogels based on double responsive triblock terpolymers

S. Reinicke, J. Schmelz, A. Lapp, M. Karg, T. Hellweg and H. Schmalz, Soft Matter, 2009, 5, 2648 DOI: 10.1039/B900539K

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