The thermal behaviour of water in crosslinked hydro-active polymeric structures: crystallization of water

Abstract

Crystallization of water within crosslinked hydrophilic polymeric network structures has been investigated using a simple transient thermal method. The results imply that partial crystallization of water occurs and that there is a critical concentration below which the absorbed water would not crystallize. This suggests that water within crosslinked hydrophilic network structures may also be existing in two states, as has been reported for uncrosslinked hydrophilic systems. However, factors that may limit the quantity of crystallizable water in crosslinked hydrophilic systems are discussed in this paper.