Dresden 2020 – scientific programme
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CPP: Fachverband Chemische Physik und Polymerphysik
CPP 50: Poster Session III
CPP 50.45: Poster
Tuesday, March 17, 2020, 14:00–16:00, P1C
Mussel-inspired pNIPAM-microgels with adhesive potential — •Sandra Forg1, Xuhong Guo2, and Regine von Klitzing1 — 1Technische Universität Darmstadt, Institut für Festkörperphysik, Darmstadt, Germany — 2ECUST, School of Chemical Engineering, Shanghai, China
The temperature-sensitivity of pNIPAM based hydrogels provides a huge potential for biologically motivated applications due to their phase transition close to the temperature of the human body (32°C). Combining this responsiveness with adhesive attributes would be of use for tissue engineering or medical purposes. Therefore hydrogels inspired by living marine organisms such as mussels have recently become highly attractive. Mussels can strongly adhere to other substrates even under harsh under water conditions, which is mainly determined by the protein 3,4-dihydroxyphenyl-L-alanine (DOPA). This DOPA-group can be incorporated into the hydrogel structure by the addition of a polymerizable group. However, most of these hydrogels are mechanically weak and / or possess a low elastic modulus, which remarkably limits their use in in vivo environments.
In this work, pNIPAM microgels are synthesized by free-radical precipitation polymerization. They are modified with DOPA to obtain adhesive properties. To get a closer insight into the polymerization process, time samples are taken during the synthesis. The monomer concentration of those time samples is analysed with mass spectrometry. By this knowledge, future synthesis can be controlled. The properties of these microgels are studied by DLS and Zetasizer measurements.