Swelling and network parameters of crosslinked thermoreversible hydrogels of poly(N-ethylacrylamide)

Samples of Poly(N-ethylacrylamide) (PEA) have been synthesized by free radical polymerization in water using N,N′-methylene bis-acrylamide (BIS) as crosslinker. Hydrogels obtained by swelling them in water, 15 wt% KCl and 1 wt% sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS) were examined by gravimetric, dimensional and compression–strain measurements to afford values of swelling ratio, polymer–solvent interaction parameters, elastic moduli and effective crosslinking density νe. Crosslinking inefficiency is evidenced by the low value (0.23) of νe relative to the theoretical crosslinking density νt based on the content of BIS in the synthesis. A small but finite extrapolated value of νe at νt = 0 is indicative of hydrophobic physical interactions. In water at 298 K increasing the content of BIS leads to a decrease in swelling and increases in values of elastic moduli and polymer–water interaction parameter. At a fixed content of BIS the values of νe and the elastic moduli exhibit an unusual increase with temperature, the crosslinking thus being thermally reversible. It is proposed that this results from a balance between hydrophobic interaction and breakage of hydrophilic hydrogen bonding. Although KCl in the medium decreases the swelling compared with that in water, the opposite effect occurs on incorporation of SDS, which is assumed to confer some polyelectrolyte character to the PEA chains. The finding, that these two swelling media reduce the values of νe and elastic moduli cf the value in water, has not been resolved satisfactorily.