Abstract
The crosslinking behaviors and gelation features of poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) hydrogels were scrutinized during the UV and thermal polymerizations of mixtures of poly(ethylene glycol) methacrylate (PEGMA, monomer) and poly(ethylene glycol) dimethacrylates (PEGDMAs, crosslinkers). The real-time crosslinking behavior of the PEG hydrogels was quantified as a function of the UV irradiation time and reaction temperature during the UV and thermal polymerization, respectively, using real-time FT-IR spectrometry and rotational rheometry. The gelation characteristics of UV- and thermally crosslinked hydrogels were compared through the analysis of the gel fraction, swelling ratio, surface hardness, and the loading and release of rhodamine-B. The gelation properties of the cured hydrogel films were suitably correlated with the real-time rheological properties and crosslinked network state of the PEG mixtures. The crosslinking and gelation properties of the cured hydrogels could be optimally tuned by not only the molecular weight of the crosslinker but also the UV or thermal polymerization conditions.
Highlights
Hydrogels are widely applied in antifouling and biomedical applications, such as super-absorbents, sensing, drug delivery, fluid control, artificial muscles, nerve regeneration, and tissue engineering [1,2,3]
Poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) hydrogels have attracted attention because of their advantageous features, such as non-toxicity, good water solubility, biocompatibility, and highly tunable properties; such hydrogels have been applied in drug delivery, wound healing, and various biomedical applications [5,6,7]
The crosslinking density of PEG hydrogels can be favorably tuned by changing the monomer (e.g., poly(ethylene glycol) methacrylate (PEGMA), poly(ethylene glycol) acrylic amide, vinyl alcohol, methyl methacrylate, and methacrylic acid) and/or the crosslinker (e.g., poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate (PEGDA), poly(ethylene glycol) dimethacrylate (PEGDMA), poly(ethylene glycol) divinyl sulfones, and poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylamide) [5,6,7,8,9]
Summary
Hydrogels are widely applied in antifouling and biomedical applications, such as super-absorbents, sensing, drug delivery, fluid control, artificial muscles, nerve regeneration, and tissue engineering [1,2,3]. The material properties of the hydrogel, its surface-area-to-volume ratio, and the physical and chemical interactions between the drug and hydrogel significantly influence the drug-release mechanism. Enhanced the crosslinked network by adding a four-arm PEG acrylate crosslinker to linear PEGDA hydrogels of different molecular weights. For PEG-based hydrogels Hwang et al [21] systematically investigated real-time crosslinking behavior for hydrogel mixtures with different photo-initiator (PI)-to-crosslinker ratios, surface mechanical properties, and network configuration by varying the swelling ratio and gel fraction. The evolution of crosslinked networks of PEG hydrogels according to the crosslinking method, i.e., UV or thermal curing, was investigated. The swelling ratio, gel fraction, and loading and release of Rh-B were compared for the cured hydrogel films produced through different curing processes. The surface mechanical properties for the cured films were determined using a nanoscratch tester (NST)
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