A facile pathway for the fast synthesis of colloidal crystal-loaded hydrogels via frontal polymerization

Si Si Liu, Zi Yi Yu, Yuan Fang, Su Na Yin, Cai Feng Wang, Li Chen, Su Chen

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Abstract

In this work, a dually sensitive colloidal crystal (CC)-loaded hydrogel has been synthesized via frontal polymerization (FP) in a facile and rapid way. First, a polystyrene CC film was fabricated by vertical deposition on the inner wall of a test tube. Then, a mixture of acrylic acid (AAc), 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA), and glycerol along with the initiator and crosslinker was added to this test tube to carry out FP, resulting in the formation of CC-loaded hydrogel. The influence of the mass ratios of HEMA/AAc on front velocity and temperatures were studied. The swelling behavior, the morphology, and the stimuli-responsive behavior of the CC-loaded hydrogels prepared via FP were thoroughly investigated on the basis of swelling measurement, scanning electron microscopy, and reflection spectra. Results show that the as-prepared CC-loaded hydrogels exhibit excellent dual sensitivity to both methanol concentrations and pH values with very short response time, which can be observed visually without the aid of instruments.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)3121-3128
Number of pages8
JournalJournal of Polymer Science, Part A: Polymer Chemistry
Volume49
Issue number14
DOIs
StatePublished - 15 Jul 2011

Keywords

  • colloids
  • frontal polymerization
  • hydrogels; radical polymerization
  • stimuli-sensitive polymers; synthesis

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