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Changes in the Properties and Self‐Healing Behaviors of Zwitterionic Nanocomposite Gels Across Their UCST Transition
Author(s) -
Haraguchi Kazutoshi,
Ning Jinyan,
Li Guang
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
macromolecular symposia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.257
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 1521-3900
pISSN - 1022-1360
DOI - 10.1002/masy.201500041
Subject(s) - upper critical solution temperature , self healing , nanocomposite , materials science , polymer chemistry , chemical engineering , composite material , polymer science , polymer , copolymer , lower critical solution temperature , engineering , medicine , alternative medicine , pathology
Summary Characteristic properties of zwitterionic nanocomposite (NC) gels consisting of a sulfobetaine copolymer and inorganic clay were investigated. The zwitterionic NC gels were synthesized with different ratios of monomer ( x ) and clay content ( n ) by the in situ free‐radical polymerization of two monomers, a sulfobetaine monomer (A 3 ) and acrylamide derivative (D), in the presence of exfoliated clay in aqueous media. The resulting zwitterionic A 3 D x ‐NC n gels were all structurally uniform and mechanically tough because of the polymer–clay network. A 3 D x ‐NC n gels exhibited a thermoresponsive phase transition with an upper critical solution temperature (UCST) for x ≤ 10 and n ≤ 5. The changes in the property of the A 3 D10‐NC3 gel across the UCST transition were elucidated in terms of optical transmittance, gel volume, dynamic viscoelasticity, and tensile mechanical properties, in addition to the change in self‐healing behavior.