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An improved correlation to predict molecular weight between crosslinks based on equilibrium degree of swelling of hydrogel networks
Author(s) -
JimenezVergara Andrea C.,
Lewis John,
Hahn Mariah S.,
MunozPinto Dany J.
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
journal of biomedical materials research part b: applied biomaterials
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.665
H-Index - 108
eISSN - 1552-4981
pISSN - 1552-4973
DOI - 10.1002/jbm.b.33942
Subject(s) - swelling , self healing hydrogels , polymer , materials science , degree (music) , photoinitiator , thermodynamics , polymer chemistry , chemical engineering , polymer science , composite material , physics , monomer , acoustics , engineering
Abstract Accurate characterization of hydrogel diffusional properties is of substantial importance for a range of biotechnological applications. The diffusional capacity of hydrogels has commonly been estimated using the average molecular weight between crosslinks ( M c ), which is calculated based on the equilibrium degree of swelling. However, the existing correlation linking M c and equilibrium swelling fails to accurately reflect the diffusional properties of highly crosslinked hydrogel networks. Also, as demonstrated herein, the current model fails to accurately predict the diffusional properties of hydrogels when polymer concentration and molecular weight are varied simultaneously. To address these limitations, we evaluated the diffusional properties of 48 distinct hydrogel formulations using two different photoinitiator systems, employing molecular size exclusion as an alternative methodology to calculate average hydrogel mesh size. The resulting data were then utilized to develop a revised correlation between M c and hydrogel equilibrium swelling that substantially reduces the limitations associated with the current correlation. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part B: Appl Biomater, 106B: 1339–1348, 2018.