Mechanical properties of temperature sensitive microgel/polyacrylamide composite hydrogels—from soft to hard fillers

Judith Meid; Fiete Dierkes; Jun Cui; Renate Messing; Alfred J. Crosby; Annette Schmidt; Walter Richtering

doi:10.1039/C2SM06868K

Mechanical properties of temperature sensitive microgel/polyacrylamide composite hydrogels—from soft to hard fillers†

Judith Meid,^a Fiete Dierkes,^a Jun Cui,^b Renate Messing,^c Alfred J. Crosby,^b Annette Schmidt^c and Walter Richtering*^a

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* Corresponding authors

^a Institute of Physical Chemistry, RWTH Aachen University, Landoltweg 2, Aachen, Germany
E-mail: richtering@rwth-aachen.de

^b Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, University of Massachusetts Amherst, 120 Governors Drive, Amherst, Massachusetts 01003, USA

^c Institute of Physical Chemistry, University of Cologne, Luxemburger Straße 116, Cologne, Germany

Abstract

In this study we investigated the mechanical properties of composite hydrogels based on a polyacrylamide (PAAm) matrix with embedded temperature sensitive poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNiPAM) microgels. We analysed the mechanical properties of the composite material with tensile tests, shear and cavitation rheology. The results of the different experiments displayed an enhancement of mechanical stability with increasing concentration of incorporated microgels. The improved stability is related to an increase of physical cross-linking points due to the incorporation of the microgels. The incorporation of temperature responsive microgel particles introduces temperature sensitive mechanical behaviour of the composite hydrogels. The collapse of the microgels inside the polyacrylamide matrix leads to a change of the volume of the filler particles as well as to a change from a soft filler to a hard filler. The influence of the hard particles on the mechanical stability of the matrix is much stronger which leads to materials with enhanced mechanical properties at high temperatures.

This article is part of the themed collection: Bridging the gap between soft and hard colloids

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1039/C2SM06868K
Article type: Paper
Submitted: 30 Sep 2011
Accepted: 14 Feb 2012
First published: 07 Mar 2012

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Soft Matter, 2012,8, 4254-4263

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Mechanical properties of temperature sensitive microgel/polyacrylamide composite hydrogels—from soft to hard fillers

J. Meid, F. Dierkes, J. Cui, R. Messing, A. J. Crosby, A. Schmidt and W. Richtering, Soft Matter, 2012, 8, 4254 DOI: 10.1039/C2SM06868K

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Soft Matter

Mechanical properties of temperature sensitive microgel/polyacrylamide composite hydrogels—from soft to hard fillers†

Abstract

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Mechanical properties of temperature sensitive microgel/polyacrylamide composite hydrogels—from soft to hard fillers

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