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Absorption Properties of Microgel‐PVP Composite Nanofibers Made by Electrospinning
Author(s) -
Díaz Juan Esteban,
Barrero Antonio,
Márquez Manuel,
FernándezNieves Alberto,
Loscertales Ignacio G.
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
macromolecular rapid communications
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.348
H-Index - 154
eISSN - 1521-3927
pISSN - 1022-1336
DOI - 10.1002/marc.200900534
Subject(s) - microfiber , electrospinning , absorbance , dispersity , nanofiber , materials science , chemical engineering , composite number , absorption (acoustics) , drug delivery , polymer chemistry , nanotechnology , polymer , chemistry , composite material , chromatography , engineering
The absorption and desorption of water, as well as the retention of certain molecules within a polymeric network, have special interest in a wide range of applications, including drug delivery, biosensing, chemical separation, catalysis, and optics. In this communication, we report the encapsulation by electrospinning of poly( N ‐isopropylacrylamide)‐based monodisperse microgels within microfibers of crosslinked poly(vinylpyrrolidone), which is a hydrogel itself, up to concentrations of 40 wt.‐% of the microgels. We present an optical characterization of these composite microfibers and quantify their absorbance, which can be as large as 17 times their de‐swollen weight. Interestingly, this absorbance can be tuned by controlling the values of the temperature and the pH of the medium.