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Synthesis and characterisation of hydrogels based on poly (N-Vinylcaprolactam) with diethylene glycol diacrylate
Date
2023
Abstract
Poly (N-vinylcaprolactam) is a polymer that is biocompatible, water-soluble, thermally sensitive, non-toxic, and nonionic. In this study, the preparation of hydrogels based on Poly (N-vinylcaprolactam) with diethylene glycol diacrylate is presented. The N-Vinylcaprolactam-based hydrogels are synthesised by using a photopolymerisation technique using diethylene glycol diacrylate as a crosslinking agent, and Diphenyl (2, 4, 6-trimethylbenzoyl) phosphine oxide as a photoinitiator. The structure of the polymers is investigated via Attenuated Total Reflectance–Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy. The polymers are further characterised using differential scanning calorimetry and swelling analysis. This study is conducted to determine the characteristics of P (N-vinylcaprolactam) with diethylene glycol diacrylate, including the addition of Vinylacetate or N-Vinylpyrrolidone, and to examine the effects on the phase transition. Although various methods of free-radical polymerisation have synthesised the homopolymer, this is the first study to report the synthesis of Poly (N-vinylcaprolactam) with diethylene glycol diacrylate by using free-radical photopolymerisation, using Diphenyl (2, 4, 6-trimethylbenzoyl) phosphine oxide to initiate the reaction. FTIR analysis shows that the NVCL-based copolymers are successfully polymerised through UV photopolymerisation. DSC analysis indicates that increasing the concentration of crosslinker results in a decrease in the glass transition temperature. Swelling analysis displays that the lower the concentration of crosslinker present in the hydrogel, the quicker the hydrogels reach their maximum swelling ratio.
Supervisor
Description
Publisher
MDPI
Citation
GELS, 2023, 94, 439
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Funding code
Funding Information
This research was funded by AMBER, Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) Centre for Advanced Materials and BioEngineering Research.