Zhuo Shuo, Halligan Elaine, Tie Billy Shu Hieng, Breheny Colette, Geever Luke M
Material Research Institute, Technological University of the Shannon, Midlands Midwest, Dublin Road, N37 HD68 Athlone, County Westmeath, Ireland.
Applied Polymer Technologies Gateway, Material Research Institute, Technological University of the Shannon, Midlands Midwest, Dublin Road, N37 HD68 Athlone, County Westmeath, Ireland.
Polymers (Basel). 2022 Aug 2;14(15):3155. doi: 10.3390/polym14153155.
The phase transitions of poly (N-vinyl caprolactam) (PNVCL) hydrogels are currently under investigation as possible materials for biomedical applications thanks to their thermosensitive properties. This study aims to use the photopolymerisation process to simulate the 4D printing process. NVCL-based polymers with different thermal properties and swellability were prepared to explore the possibility of synthetic hydrogels being used for 4D printing. In this contribution, the thermal behaviours of novel photopolymerised NVCL-based hydrogels were analysed. The lower critical solution temperature (LCST) of the physically crosslinked gels was detected using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), ultraviolet (UV) spectroscopy, and cloud point measurement. The chemical structure of the xerogels was characterised by means of Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). Pulsatile swelling studies indicated that the hydrogels had thermo-reversible properties. As a result, the effect of varying the macromolecular monomer concentration was apparent. The phase transition temperature is increased when different concentrations of hydrophilic monomers are incorporated. The transition temperature of the hydrogels may allow for excellent flexibility in tailoring transition for specific applications, while the swelling and deswelling behaviour of the gels is strongly temperature- and monomer feed ratio-dependent.
聚(N-乙烯基己内酰胺)(PNVCL)水凝胶的相变目前正在研究中,由于其热敏特性,它有可能成为生物医学应用的材料。本研究旨在利用光聚合过程来模拟4D打印过程。制备了具有不同热性能和溶胀性的基于NVCL的聚合物,以探索合成水凝胶用于4D打印的可能性。在本论文中,分析了新型光聚合的基于NVCL的水凝胶的热行为。使用差示扫描量热法(DSC)、紫外(UV)光谱和浊点测量来检测物理交联凝胶的低临界溶液温度(LCST)。通过傅里叶变换红外光谱(FTIR)对干凝胶的化学结构进行了表征。脉动溶胀研究表明,水凝胶具有热可逆性质。因此,改变大分子单体浓度的影响是明显的。当加入不同浓度的亲水性单体时,相变温度会升高。水凝胶的转变温度可以在为特定应用定制转变时提供出色的灵活性,而凝胶的溶胀和去溶胀行为强烈依赖于温度和单体进料比。