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Synthesis of Porous PEG Microgels Using CaCO 3 Microspheres as Hard Templates
Author(s) -
Behra Muriel,
Schmidt Stephan,
Hartmann Jürgen,
Volodkin Dmitry V.,
Hartmann Laura
Publication year - 2012
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.201100863
Subject(s) - materials science , template , scanning electron microscope , peg ratio , porosity , ethylene glycol , chemical engineering , photopolymer , microparticle , porous medium , nanomaterials , nanotechnology , nanoparticle , polymer , monomer , composite material , finance , engineering , economics
Porous poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) microgels of both 17.6 and 8.3 μm in diameter are synthesized via hard templating with calcium carbonate (CaCO 3 ) microparticles. The synthesis is performed in three steps: loading of PEG macromonomers into CaCO 3 microparticles, crosslinking via photopolymerization, and removal of the CaCO 3 template under acidic conditions. The resulting porous PEG microgels are inverse replicates of their templates as indicated by light microscopy, cryo‐scanning electron microscopy (cryo‐SEM), and permeability studies. Thus this process allows for the straightforward and highly reproducible synthesis of porous hydrogel particles of two different diameters and porosities that show great potential as carriers for drugs or nanomaterials.