Photopolymerization and structure formation of methacrylic acid based hydrogels: The effect of light intensity

Hongyan He, Ling Li, L. James Lee*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

34 Scopus citations

Abstract

Poly(methacrylic acid) (PMAA)-based pH-sensitive hydrogels are widely used for biomedical and pharmaceutical fields because of their unique swelling properties and highly hydrated structure. To better serve various applications, it is necessary to have a thorough understanding of the reaction mechanism and the structure formation of synthesized hydrogels. In this study, the PMAA hydrogels crosslinked with tri(ethylene glycol) dimethacrylate (TEGDMA) were synthesized using free radical photopolymerization in a water/ethanol mixture. The effect of light intensity on the reaction kinetics and structure formation was addressed through a series of analytical methods, including photo-differential scanning calorimetry (PhotoDSC), photo-rheometry, and dynamic light scattering (DLS) goniometry. The copolymerization of the photocurable MAA/TEGDMA system was enhanced as the light intensity increased at low resin conversion. However, the light intensity decreased the reaction rate at high resin conversion. The use of a high light intensity significantly shortened the reaction time to reach macrogelation and increased the swelling ratio of formed hydrogels, which can be explained by the relative rates of intra- and intermolecular reactions during the microstructure formation.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)103-113
Number of pages11
JournalReactive and Functional Polymers
Volume68
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Jan 2008

Keywords

  • Light intensity
  • Microgels
  • pH-sensitive hydrogel
  • Photopolymerization

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Photopolymerization and structure formation of methacrylic acid based hydrogels: The effect of light intensity'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this