Poly(urethane)-crossunked poly(hema) hydrogels

Daniel Cohn, Marc Aronhime, Bashir Abdo

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

20 Scopus citations

Abstract

Hydrogels have been prepared from 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate polymerized in the presence of isocyanate-terminated poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) crosslinking agents. PEGs of molecular weights 200, 400, and 1000 were investigated. The crosslinked nature of the hydrogelswas demonstrated by their insolubility in solvents which normally dissolve poly(HEMA). Hexamethylene diisocyanate (HDI) was mainly used as the isocyanate. The molecular weight of the PEG and the crosslinker content significantly influenced the equilibrium water sorption and mechanical properties of the saturated networks. It was observed that as the molecular weightof the PEG increased, the water sorption increased and the nominal modulus decreased. However, for higher levels of crosslinker, water sorption decreased and modulus increased at lowmolecular weight PEG; for PEG 1000, water absorption increased as crosslinker content increased. These results are explained by the competing effects of flexibility, crosslink density,and hydrophobicity contributed by the various constituents of the hydrogels.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)841-851
Number of pages11
JournalJournal of Macromolecular Science, Part A: Pure and Applied Chemistry
Volume29
Issue number10
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Oct 1992

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