Polytetrahydrofuran amphiphilic networks. III. Synthesis and characterization of pH-sensitive poly (methacrylic acid)-I-polytetrahydrofuran networks

摘要

A series of pH-sensitive amphiphilic poly(methacrylic acid)-l-polytetrahydrofuran (PMAA-l-PTHF) networks were prepared by free radical copolymerization of hydrophobic telechelic polytetrahydrofuran diacrylates (PTHFDA) with hydrophilic methacrylic acid(MIAA). Network composition was characterized. The networks are amphiphilic, namely, that swell both in organic solvents and in water. The swelling of the networks in organic solvents or in water is composition dependent. Swelling dynamics of networks indicates a non-Fickian process in cyclohexane as well as in water. According to swelling experiments, four solubility parameters of PMAA-l-PTHF networks were obtained, which correspond to the hydrophilic and hydrophobic segments, and the interaction between these two segments and solvents. The networks are pH sensitive in aqueous media. These results indicate that PMAA-l-PTHF networks exhibit not only the properties of PMAA and PTHF segments but also the combined properties of them. (C) 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [References: 22]