Abstract
Abstract: Poly (2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate) PHEMA monolithic cryogels were synthesized by free radical polymerization at -12°C for 18 hours and produced spongy, elastic and macroporous gel matrix. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) measured structural properties of PHEMA monolithic cryogel matrix to visualize pore morphology. Mechanical properties of PHEMA monolithic cryogel such as storage modulus, compressive modulus, and creep test were measured with Dynamic mechanical analyzer (DMA). The PHEMA monolithic cryogel matrix shows ~ 97% recovery after 70% compression of cryogel and has a compressive modulus of 1.8kPa to 8.5kPa.
Highlights
Cryogels are macroporous polymeric materials that can be synthesized by free radical polymerization
Epoxy-PHEMA monolithic cryogel synthesis success was very dependent on freezing gelation interaction
The most important step during the synthesis process was the rapid freezing of the reaction mixture; this takes place before the onset of gelation
Summary
Cryogels are macroporous polymeric materials that can be synthesized by free radical polymerization. Concentrations of the initiator ammonium persulphate (APS) and activator N, N, N, N-tetramethylethylenediamine (TEMED) has a major impact on the polymerization rate as well as on molecular weight of the resulting polymers. These processes take place at sub-zero temperatures [1]. Macroporous monolithic cryogels with large interconnected pore size range between 10 μm and 200 μm are heterophase systems where solvent (water) is present both inside interconnected pores and bound to the polymer network [3,4,5]
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