Controllable thermal and pH responsive behavior of PEG based hydrogels and applications for dye adsorption and release.

A series of controllable thermal and pH dual-responsive copolymeric hydrogels (PMA) were prepared by a one-pot reaction with poly(ethylene glycol) methyl ether acrylate (PEGA), 2-methoxyethyl acrylate (MEA) and acroleic acid (AA). The hydrogels exhibited good mechanical properties and a sensitive response to pH and temperature. Besides, the Lower Critical Solution Temperature (LCST) of the hydrogels can be adjusted from 37 °C to 58 °C by changing the content of AA. The hydrogels also showed excellent selective adsorption properties. The maximum adsorption quantity of organic cationic dye brilliant green and methylene blue were 0.49 mg mg and 0.42 mg mg respectively, much better than previous reports. Furthermore, using the thermal and pH responsibility, the PMA hydrogels can release the adsorbed molecules with control. Nearly 95% of carriers could be released at pH 4.01 and 65 °C over 8 h. The regeneration ability makes the materials easy to reuse many times. Due to these properties, these dual-responsive hydrogels have great potential applications in various fields for adsorption, drug delivery, release and tissue engineering.