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Physical Polyurethane Hydrogels via Charge Shielding through Acids or Salts
Author(s) -
Leiendecker MaiThi,
Licht Christopher J.,
Borghs Jannik,
Mooney David J.,
Zimmermann Marc,
Böker Alexander
Publication year - 2018
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.201700711
Subject(s) - self healing hydrogels , polyurethane , monomer , valence (chemistry) , salt (chemistry) , divalent , polymer chemistry , materials science , elastic modulus , chemical engineering , electromagnetic shielding , chemistry , polymer , organic chemistry , composite material , engineering
Physical hydrogels with tunable stress‐relaxation and excellent stress recovery are formed from anionic polyurethanes via addition of acids, monovalent salts, or divalent salts. Gel properties can be widely adjusted through pH, salt valence, salt concentration, and monomer composition. We propose and investigate a novel gelation mechanism based on a colloidal system interacting through charge repulsion and chrage shielding, allowing a broad use of the material, from acidic (pH 4–5.5) to pH‐neutral hydrogels with Young's moduli ranging from 10 to 140 kPa.