Abstract
The gelation behavior of a poly(ethylene-alt-propylene)-b-poly(ethylene oxide)-b-poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PON) triblock terpolymer and a poly(N-isopropylacrylamide)-b-poly(ethylene oxide)-b-poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (NON) triblock copolymer was studied by rheology over the concentration range 1-5 wt %. In comparison to the NON copolymer, gelation of the PON terpolymer was achieved at a much lower concentration, with a much sharper sol-gel transition. This is due to a stepwise gelation of PON terpolymers involving micellization at room temperature and gelation at elevated temperatures. The separation of micellization and gelation leads to the formation of a two-compartment network as observed by cryoTEM. The results highlight the intricate and tunable nanostructures and new properties accessible from ABC terpolymer hydrogels.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 10365-10368 |
Number of pages | 4 |
Journal | Journal of the American Chemical Society |
Volume | 134 |
Issue number | 25 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Jun 27 2012 |