Regensburg 2010 – scientific programme
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CPP: Fachverband Chemische Physik und Polymerphysik
CPP 3: Focus: Structure and Dynamics of Responsive Hydrogels I
CPP 3.2: Talk
Monday, March 22, 2010, 10:45–11:00, H37
Structure of thermoresponsive polymer hydrogels — •Christine M. Papadakis1, Joseph Adelsberger1, Amit Kulkarni1, Abhinav Jain1, Andreas Meier-Koll1, Weinan Wang1, Achille M. Bivigou-Koumba2, André Laschewsky2, and Peter Müller-Buschbaum1 — 1TU München, Physikdepartment E13, Garching — 2Universität Potsdam, Institut für Chemie
Thermoresponsive polymer gels display strong changes in volume when heated above the lower critical solution temperature (LCST). They are thus attractive candidates for e.g. controlled ultrafiltration.
We investigate thermoresponsive polymer hydrogels based on poly(N-isopropyl acrylamide) (PNIPAM) with the focus on the influence of polymer architecture on the morphology. PNIPAM homopolymers as well as diblock and triblock copolymers with a longer PNIPAM block and hydrophobic polystyrene (PS) end blocks are investigated [1]. Structural studies were carried out using mainly small-angle neutron and X-ray scattering (SANS). The homopolymers form a transient gel, whereas the diblock copolymers form a jammed solution of core-shell micelles and the triblock copolymers physically cross-linked micellar networks. The latter constitute an attractive alternative to chemically crosslinked networks.
1. K. Troll, C. M. Papadakis, et al., Colloid Polym. Sci. 2008, 286, 1079. A.M. Bivigou Koumba, A. Laschewsky, et al., Macromol. Chem. Phys. 2009, 210, 565. A. Jain, C. M. Papadakis et al., Macromol. Symp., accepted.