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Exploration of Ideal Polymer Networks
Author(s) -
Shibayama Mitsuhiro
Publication year - 2017
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.201600122
Subject(s) - tetra , ethylene glycol , peg ratio , polymer , polymer chemistry , materials science , amine gas treating , rheology , fabrication , chemical engineering , chemistry , composite material , organic chemistry , alternative medicine , finance , pathology , medicinal chemistry , engineering , economics , medicine
Summary The history of exploration of ideal polymer networks is reviewed, followed by a demonstration of fabrication and applications of novel polymer networks free from defects/entanglements. The networks, we call, are Tetra‐PEG gels, consisting of two types of tetra‐arm poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) prepolymers that have mutually reactive amine (Tetra‐PEG‐NH 2 ) and activated ester (Tetra‐PEG‐NHS) terminal groups, respectively. Here NHS represents N‐hydroxysuccinimide. The novelty lies in “cross‐end‐coupling” of symmetrical tetra‐arm PEGs having complementary end groups. Small‐angle neutron scattering (SANS) results on Tetra‐PEG gels, together with mechanical properties and swelling behaviors, strongly suggest that thus prepared Tetra‐PEG gels are near‐“ideal” polymer networks with very small fractions of defects. In order to answer the reasons why such a structure could be formed, the kinetics of gelation was investigated by IR, UV, and time‐resolved rheological and SANS measurements. Furthermore, fabrication of Tetra‐PEG ion gels, having good mechanical properties, is demonstrated.