Polymer hydrogel nanoparticles and their networks Page: 2
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Lu, Xihua, Polymer hydrogel nanoparticles and their networks. Doctor of
Philosophy (Materials Science), August 2002, 105 pp., 1 table, 29 illustrations, 98
references.
The thermally responsive hydroxypropyl cellulose (HPC) hydrogel nanoparticles
have been synthesized and characterized. The HPC particles were obtained by
chemically crosslinking collapsed HPC polymer chains in water-surfactant
(dodecyltrimethylammonium bromide) dispersion above the lower critical solution
temperature (LCST) of the HPC. The size distributions of microgel particles, measured
by dynamic light scattering, have been correlated with synthesis conditions including
surfactant concentration, polymer concentration, and reaction temperature. The swelling
and phase transition properties of resultant HPC microgels have been analyzed using both
static and dynamic light scattering techniques.
By first making gel nanoparticles and then covalently bonding them together, we
have engineered a new class of gels with two levels of structural hierarchy: the primary
network is crosslinked polymer chains in each individual particle, while the secondary
network is a system of crosslinked nanoparticles. The covalent bonding contributes to the
structural stability of the nanostructured gels, while self-assembly provides them with
crystal structures that diffract light, resulting in colors. By using N-isopropylacrylamide
copolymer hydrogel nanoparticles, we have synthesized nanoparticle networks that
display a striking iridescence like precious opal but are soft and flexible like gelatin. This
is in contrast to previous colored hydrogels, which were created either by adding dyes or
fluorescent, or by organic solvent or by embedding a colloidal crystal array of polymer
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Lu, Xihua. Polymer hydrogel nanoparticles and their networks, dissertation, August 2002; Denton, Texas. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc3232/m1/2/: accessed April 23, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; .