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Thermoresponsive Three‐Stage Optical Modulation of a Self‐Healing Composite Hydrogel
Author(s) -
Wang Haihuan,
Zhan Jianghao,
Xiao Kechen,
Luo Feng,
Li Jiehua,
Tan Hong
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
macromolecular chemistry and physics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.57
H-Index - 112
eISSN - 1521-3935
pISSN - 1022-1352
DOI - 10.1002/macp.201800329
Subject(s) - opacity , composite number , self healing , lower critical solution temperature , ionic bonding , materials science , phase transition , chemical engineering , polymer chemistry , phase (matter) , poly(n isopropylacrylamide) , chemistry , composite material , polymer , copolymer , optics , organic chemistry , medicine , ion , physics , alternative medicine , pathology , quantum mechanics , engineering
A self‐healing composite hydrogel with thermoresponsive three‐stage optical adjustment (opaque‐transparent‐translucent) is achieved by combining polyampholyte hydrogel (PAH) with a small amount of poly( N ‐isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM) nanogels. The PAH has an upper critical solution temperature to dominate the initial optical stage of reversible opaque‐transparent transition and also offers its self‐healing properties via reversible ionic bonds. Meanwhile, the PNIPAM shows a lower critical solution temperature by hydrophilic‐hydrophobic phase transition and synergistic clustering of PAH, which controls the subsequent optical stage of reversible transparent‐translucent transition. Therefore, the PAH/PNIPAM composite hydrogel shows a reversible three‐stage optical modulation by controlling temperature from low (<15 °C) to medium (15–30 °C) to high (>30 °C) via double phase transition behavior of PAH/PNIPAM. Through different analytical methods, the synergistic thermoreposensive effects of PNIPAM nanogels and the bulk PAH are demonstrated. Finally, a prototype of a smart window is designed to demonstrate one of its potential applications.