Fabrication and characterization of co-continuous elastomer-hydrogel composites

The increasing demand of applications in polymer industry requires new or improved combinations of material properties, which cannot be satisfied by few polymers alone. There has therefore been scientific and industrial interest in mixing two different polymers together to make polymer blends. Of all possible polymer blend morphologies, co-continuous blends are of particular interest due to their unique property of possessing two continuous phases. In this research, a co-continuous structured elastomer-hydrogel composite is fabricated to combine the elasticity of elastomer and the permeability of hydrogel. The stretchable, water permeable composite can be used as a mechanically tunable molecular sieve in drug delivery and tissue engineering. Porous PEO-PDMS elastomer with interconnected microchannels is filled with polyacrylamide hydrogels via a microsphere-templating process. The configuration of the microstructure of the composite is observed and analyzed. Besides, the mechanical properties and diffusivity properties of the composite are experimentally characterized. In general, this research provides experimental bases for designing a new polymer blends of elastomer and hydrogel. It also aids in the creation of guidelines for the analysis of elastomer-hydrogel interactions.

Name thesis:degree_name

M.S.

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Mechanical Engineering

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2017

Author dc:creator

• Zhang, Qian

Contributors dc:contributor

• Hutchens, Shelby B.

• elastomer-hydrogel composite
• polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)
• polyacrylamide hydrogel
• stretchability
• water permeability
• salt diffusivity

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2016 Qian Zhang

Language dc:language

en

Handle dc:identifier

http://hdl.handle.net/2142/95518

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/95518