Abstract
Polyelectrolyte hydrogels containing diprotic acid moieties sensitive to ionic strength changes of the swelling medium were prepared from acrylamide (AAm) and itaconic acid (IA) monomers with 0–21.4 mol% IA by using a radiation polymerization technique. The swelling and shrinking capacities of hydrogels were measured in water and in NaCl solutions. The equilibrium swelling ratio of hydrogels in water increased drastically when the mole percent of IA increased or NaCl concentration in the external solution decreased. The dynamics of the absorption process was investigated and found to be non‐Fickian controlled. On the other hand, it was shown that the hydrogels with high IA content shrank significantly faster than the hydrogels with low IA content in 1.0 M NaCl solution.
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