Safi Syed Ragib, Kaneko Toshiki, Nakahara Katsuhiro, Gotoh Takehiko, Iizawa Takashi
Chemical Engineering Program, Graduate School of Advanced Science and Engineering, Hiroshima University, 1-4-1 Kagamiyama, Higashi Hiroshima, Hiroshima 739-8527, Japan.
Gels. 2022 Mar 23;8(4):200. doi: 10.3390/gels8040200.
A thermosensitive gel that exhibits lower critical solution temperature (LCST) becomes hydrophilic at low temperatures and hydrophobic at high temperatures in water. A system for absorbing hydrophobic organic matters that exploits this property has been reported. While washing the gel at a low temperature with a good solvent is a possible method for removing the adsorbed matter, a process that then shrinks the gel is also required. Herein, we focused on poly[(ethylene glycol) mono(m)ethyl ether acrylate] (POEGA) gels as thermosensitive gels suitable for use in this system. POEGAs are known to contain poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) units in their side chains and exhibit upper critical solution temperature (UCST) behavior in aliphatic alcohols. By exploiting this property, we developed a method for removing hydrophobic matters that accumulate in these gels; we also evaluated the LCST and UCST behavior of POEGA gels in alcohol-water mixtures, and measured the LCSTs of these gels in water and their UCSTs in some alcohols.
一种呈现低临界溶液温度（LCST）的热敏凝胶在水中低温时呈亲水性，高温时呈疏水性。据报道，有一种利用这种特性吸收疏水性有机物质的系统。虽然用良溶剂在低温下洗涤凝胶是去除吸附物质的一种可行方法，但还需要一个使凝胶收缩的过程。在此，我们重点研究了聚[（乙二醇）单（甲）乙醚丙烯酸酯]（POEGA）凝胶作为适用于该系统的热敏凝胶。已知POEGA在其侧链中含有聚（乙二醇）（PEG）单元，并且在脂肪醇中呈现上临界溶液温度（UCST）行为。通过利用这一特性，我们开发了一种去除积聚在这些凝胶中的疏水性物质的方法；我们还评估了POEGA凝胶在醇 - 水混合物中的LCST和UCST行为，并测量了这些凝胶在水中的LCST以及在某些醇中的UCST。
