Hydrogels are 3-D polymeric networks that absorb many times their weight in water but are insoluble in water due to their crosslinked nature, making them ideal materials for use in biomedical applications such as drug delivery systems. Regardless of the intended application water uptake and diffusion processes play a critical role in determining network properties and hydration stability.  Utilizing a bioinspired copolymer hydrogel approach we aim to elucidate the influence of structural parameters such as crosslink density, hydrophilic to hydrophobic balance, and hydrophilic monomer identity on water content, structure and dehydration processes. Acrylamide based glycomonomers containing a stereospecific pendant galactose moiety (GalEAm) and dimethyl acrylamide (DMA) were independently used as the hydrophilic component in hydrogels synthesized via UV initiated free radical polymerization. A siloxane containing monomer, 3-acrylamidopropyltris (trimethylsiloxy)silane (ATris) was incorporated to tailor the level of hydration as well as the distribution of bound water in varying network architectures. Water structure and hydration processes of varying network architectures were characterized via thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), dynamic scanning calorimetry (DSC), and dynamic vapor sorption (DVS). By utilizing a bioinspired approach we observed tailorable differences in equilibrium water and bound water content. Furthermore, we found that increasing bound water reduced water diffusivity in glycopolymer-silicone hydrogels.<br/>

Synthesis and characterization of glycopolymer hydrogels for determination of water structuring

254th National Meeting (2017)

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