Synthesis and Characterization of Poly(ethylene glycol) Dimethacrylate Hydrogels |
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| Authors: | Sheng Lin-Gibson Sidi Bencherif Joseph M. Antonucci Ronald L. Jones Ferenc Horkay |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Polymers Division, National Institute of Science and Technology Gaithersburg, MD 20899-8543, USA;2. Section on Tissue Biophysics and Biomimetics, Laboratory of Integrative and Medical Biophysics, NICHD, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA |
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| Abstract: | Facile synthesis and detailed characterization of photo-polymerizable and biocompatible poly(ethylene glycol) dimethacrylates (PEGDM) and their hydrogels are described. Combined analyses of 1H NMR and MALDI-TOF MS confirmed the formation of prepolymers of high purity and narrow mass distribution (PD < 1.02). A systematic investigation into the structure and mechanical properties of PEGDM hydrogels was performed to characterize the relationships between the network structure and gel properties. Small-angle neutron scattering was used to characterize the structural features of hydrogels with respect to their semidilute solution precursors. A well-defined structural length scale (correlation length) manifested as a maximum in the scattering intensity was observed for hydrogels derived from high molecular mass PEGDMs and/or high oligomer mass fractions. Hydrogels derived from lower molecular mass PEGDMs and/or low oligomer mass fractions exhibited multiple correlation lengths suggesting the formation of inhomogeneous gel structures. The shear moduli, determined from uniaxial compression measurement, showed that the gel structures correlate well with the gel mechanical properties. |
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| Keywords: | gel structure hydrogel MALDI-TOF MS mechanical properties neutron scattering poly(ethylene glycol) SANS |
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