Toleutay Gaukhar, Su Esra, Yelemessova Gaukhargul
Laboratory of Engineering, Satbayev University, Almaty 050013, Kazakhstan.
Department of Chemistry, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996, USA.
Polymers (Basel). 2023 Jul 23;15(14):3131. doi: 10.3390/polym15143131.
Polyampholyte hydrogels exhibit great antibacterial and antifouling properties, which make them attractive for biomedical applications, such as drug delivery, wound healing, and tissue engineering. They also have potential applications in food safety, wastewater treatment, and desalination. Since they are based on ionic interactions, polyampholytes are known to require lower amounts of chemical cross-linkers as compared with traditional gels. However, the effects of both chemical and physical interactions on the material's performance are yet to be fully understood and were examined in the present work. Here, four series of equimolar polyampholyte hydrogels were synthesized with anionic (acrylamidomethylpropane sulfonic acid sodium salt) and cationic monomers (acrylamidopropyl-trimethylammonium chloride) along with a cross-linker (N,N'-methylenebisacrylamide). The mechanical and rheological properties of the gels were characterized following changes to the initial monomer concentration and crosslinker ratios, which led to gels with different toughness, stretchability, and compressibility. The direct correlation of the cross-linking degree with the initial monomer concentration showed that the chemical crosslinker could be further reduced at a high monomer concentration of 30% by weight, which creates an inter-chain network at a minimal crosslinker concentration of 0.25%. Lastly, N'N-dimethylacrylamide was added, which resulted in an increase in the number of H-bonds in the structure, noticeably raising material performance.
聚两性电解质水凝胶具有出色的抗菌和抗污性能，这使其在生物医学应用中颇具吸引力，如药物递送、伤口愈合和组织工程。它们在食品安全、废水处理和海水淡化方面也有潜在应用。由于聚两性电解质基于离子相互作用，与传统水凝胶相比，已知其所需的化学交联剂用量较少。然而，化学和物理相互作用对材料性能的影响尚未得到充分理解，本研究对此进行了考察。在此，用阴离子单体（丙烯酰胺基甲基丙烷磺酸钠盐）和阳离子单体（丙烯酰胺基丙基三甲基氯化铵）以及交联剂（N,N'-亚甲基双丙烯酰胺）合成了四个系列的等摩尔聚两性电解质水凝胶。随着初始单体浓度和交联剂比例的变化，对凝胶的力学和流变性能进行了表征，这导致了具有不同韧性、拉伸性和压缩性的凝胶。交联度与初始单体浓度的直接相关性表明，在30%重量的高单体浓度下，化学交联剂可以进一步减少，这在最低0.25%的交联剂浓度下形成了链间网络。最后，添加了N,N-二甲基丙烯酰胺，这导致结构中氢键数量增加，显著提高了材料性能。
