Premium
Thermoresponsive sodium alginate‐ g ‐poly( N ‐isopropylacrylamide) copolymers III. Solution properties
Author(s) -
Cheaburu Catalitalia,
Ciocoiu OanaNicoleta,
Staikos Georgios,
Vasile Cornelia
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
journal of applied polymer science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.575
H-Index - 166
eISSN - 1097-4628
pISSN - 0021-8995
DOI - 10.1002/app.37789
Subject(s) - lower critical solution temperature , poly(n isopropylacrylamide) , aqueous solution , copolymer , chemical engineering , materials science , polymer , polymer chemistry , thermoresponsive polymers in chromatography , cloud point , grafting , sodium alginate , phase (matter) , chemistry , sodium , composite material , organic chemistry , engineering , reversed phase chromatography , metallurgy
Stimuli‐responsive biocompatible and biodegradable materials can be obtained by combining polysaccharides with polymers exhibiting lower critical solution temperature (LCST) phase behavior, such as poly( N ‐isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAAm). The behavior of aqueous solutions of sodium alginate (NaAl) grafted with PNIPAAm (NaAl‐ g ‐PNIPAAm) copolymers as a function of composition and temperature is presented. The products obtained exhibit a remarkable thermothickening behavior in aqueous solutions if the degree of grafting, the concentration, and the temperature are higher than some critical values. The sol–gel‐phase transition temperatures have been determined. It was found that at temperatures below LCST the systems behave like a solution, whereas at temperatures above LCST, the solutions behave like a stiff gel, because of PNIPAAm segregation. This behavior is reversible and could find applications in tissue engineering and drug delivery systems. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci., 2013