Gelation and crosslinking characteristics of photopolymerized poly(ethylene glycol) hydrogels

Ji Won Hwang, Seung Man Noh, Bumsang Kim, Hyun Wook Jung

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

32 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The gelation and crosslinking features of poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) hydrogels were scrutinized through the UV polymerization processes of poly(ethylene glycol) methacrylate (PEGMA) and poly(ethylene glycol) dimethacrylate (PEGDMA) mixtures. The real-time evolutions of the elastic moduli of the prepolymerized mixtures with different crosslinking ratios of PEGMA and PEGDMA and the photoinitiator concentrations were measured during photopolymerization. The rheological properties were compared with other properties of the PEG hydrogels, including the relative changes in the C=C amounts in the mixtures before and after UV irradiation, water swelling ratio, gel fraction, mesh size, and mechanical hardness. As the portion of PEGDMA as a crosslinker increased, the final elastic modulus and gel fraction increased, whereas the swelling ratio and scratch penetration depth at the hydrogel film surface decreased because of the formation of compact networks inside the hydrogels. These results indicate that there was a good correlation between the rheological analysis for predicting the crosslinking transition during photopolymerization and the macroscopic properties of the crosslinked hydrogels.

Original languageEnglish
Article number41939
JournalJournal of Applied Polymer Science
Volume132
Issue number22
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2015 Jun 1

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Keywords

  • photopolymerization
  • rheology
  • swelling
  • viscosity and viscoelasticity

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Chemistry(all)
  • Surfaces, Coatings and Films
  • Polymers and Plastics
  • Materials Chemistry

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