Nonmonotonic swelling of agarose-carbopol hybrid hydrogel: Experimental and theoretical analysis

Nader Hamzavi*, Jean Yves Dewavrin, Aleksey D. Drozdov, Erik Birgersson

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articleResearchpeer-review

6 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

A hybrid gel is synthesized by physical mixing of agarose and carbopol and an interpenetrating network of Agarose-Carbopol (AC) hybrid gel is observed by atomic force microscopy. This hybrid gel exhibits pH-responsiveness and mechanical stability as well as tunable swelling. These hydrogels depict a nonmonotonic swelling behavior as a function of pH. In particular, the equilibrium degree of swelling increases with pH of bath solution until its maximum value around pH = 7–9, followed by a decrease at higher pH values. The degree of swelling is increased by the concentration of carbopol when the concentration of agarose is low [0.25% W/V],, or decreased by the concentration of agarose when Cagarose is high [[>0:5% W/V]. A physics-based model is also adapted to characterize the swelling-shrinking behavior of different compositions of AC gels. This swelling-shrinking behavior of AC hydrogels will have potential applications in smart hydrogel-based devices.

Original languageEnglish
JournalJournal of Polymer Science, Part B: Polymer Physics
Volume55
Issue number5
Pages (from-to)444-454
Number of pages11
ISSN0887-6266
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Mar 2017

Keywords

  • agarose
  • carbopol
  • copolymerization
  • hydrogels
  • mechanical properties
  • modeling
  • stimuli-responsive polymers
  • synthesis

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