A Novel Design Strategy for Temperature-Responsive IPN Hydrogels Based on a Copolymer of Acrylamide and N-(1,1-Dimethyl-3-Oxobutyl)-Acrylamide

摘要

A methology is described for the synthesis of novel temperature-responsive interpenetrating polymer network (IPN) hydrogels with poly(2-acrylamido- 2-methylpropane sulfonic acid) (PAMPS) as a tightly crosslinked 1st network, temperature-responsive poly(acrylamide-co-N-(1,1-dimethyl-3-oxobutyl)- acrylamide) (P(AM-co-DAAM)) with low cost as a lossely crosslinked 2nd network. The structure and morphology of the IPN hydrogels were characterized by FTIR, TGA and SEM, and the results indicated that PAMPS network introduced P(AM-co-DAAM) hydrogels have large, thermally stable and interconnected porous network. The properties of the IPN hydrogels, which include: swelling capacity, equilibrium swelling/deswelling ratio, temperature- responsive behavior, and the dwelling kinetics as specific temperature, were investigated carefully. Results showed that the obtained IPN hydrogels displayed a controllable equilibrium swelling/deswelling behavior and possessed remarkable thermosensitivity. In addition, the results also indicate that the incorporation of the hydrophobic groups DAAM has a big effect on the LCST of the IPN hydrogels. Consequently, these novel temperature-responsive IPN hydrogels with low cost and slow-releasing performance would be promising for potential applications, such as environmental catalysis, water treatment, and agriculture.