Hydrations and water properties in the super salt-resistive gel probed by FT-IR

The so-called “Super Salt-Resistive Gel”, i.e., poly(4-vinyl phenol) (P4VPh) hydrogel, of different water contents (H = 95–40%) was prepared by crosslinking with different amounts of ethylene glycol diglycidyl ether (EGDGE). FT-IR spectroscopy was used to investigate the hydration and hydrogen bond (HB) properties of water in the gel samples. The OH stretching band around 3300 cm−1 was deconvoluted into four sub-bands. On the basis of the relative band area and the peak wave number, it was suggested that HB of water in the gel is most stabilized when the acidic proton of the phenol residue is intact, being free from the chemical crosslinking. Difference spectra for the water band obtained in the presence of salts suggested that only sulfate systems specifically affect polymer hydrations in the gel phase. The sulfate systems were also specific in the perturbation on the main chain CH2 stretching band; namely, with increasing the salt concentration, the peak showed a significant blue shift, which means that the hydrophobic hydration is stabilized by the typical salting-out divalent anion. All the experimental results on the FT-IR spectroscopy for the P4VPh hydrogel seem to be consistent with our previous 1H NMR data on the water T2 (Sakai Y, Kuroki S, Satoh M. Langmuir 2008; 24:6981-7.) as well as the specific stabilization of water (HB and hydration) in the gel that has been suggested on the basis of the swelling behavior.