Tunable Optical, Mechanical and Swelling/de-seelling Properties Associated with Coil-to-globule Transition of PNIPA in Nanocomposite Gels

摘要

We developed novel nanocomposite hydrogdls (NC gels) with a unique organic/inorganic network structure, synthesized by in-situ free radical polymerization of N-isopropyl acrylamide (NIPA) in the presence of inorganic clay. NC gels exhibit high transparency, high degrees of swelling and rapid temperature- responses as well as superb mechanical properties with extraordinarily large deformations and fracture energy. These optical, mechanical and functional properties associated with coil-to-globule transition of PNIAP can be controlled over a wide range by altering the gel compositions.