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Polymers
Special Issues
Polymer Hydrogels and Their Applications
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Polymer Hydrogels and Their Applications

A special issue of Polymers (ISSN 2073-4360). This special issue belongs to the section "Polymer Analysis and Characterization".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 January 2022) | Viewed by 11547

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Miloslav Pekař

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Faculty of Chemistry, Brno University of Technology, Purkynova 464/118, 612 00 Brno, Czech Republic
Interests: applied physical and colloid chemistry, particularly thermodynamics, kinetics, and rheology; non-energetic applications of lignite, humic substances; physical chemistry of polysaccharides, particularly hyaluronan, and their applications including hydrogels; non-equilibrium thermodynamics and its relationships to chemical kinetics

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

In spite of their extensive research history, hydrogels still remain an area of active work and of vivid interest of many of us. It is therefore no surprise that there has been remarkable progress in this field, especially in recent years. New components are being designed and more sophisticated structures are being prepared that all extend beyond the traditional “simple crosslinking of simple precursors”. Materials with specific and tailored properties resulting in, for example, smart, responsive, or gradient hydrogels have been reported. Hydrogels are found not only in medicine or the food industry but have spread into sorption, environmental, sensor, and other technologies. At the same time, more elaborated techniques are employed to characterize hydrogel properties, with variation across the given piece of material, for example, electron microscopy and microrheology examining transport properties at a single-molecule level. Detailed mathematical modeling of hydrogel mechanical properties taking into account thermodynamic constraints has also emerged.

The aim of this Special Issue is to highlight the progress and fundamental aspects for the design, preparation, and characterization (including modeling) of the properties and applications of hydrogels.

Prof. Dr. Miloslav Pekař
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Polymers is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • biomedicine
  • diffusion
  • electron microscopy
  • environmental engineering
  • gradient hydrogels
  • hydrogels
  • mathematical modeling
  • mesh and pore size
  • microrheology
  • smart hydrogels

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

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19 pages, 8311 KiB  
Article
Preparation, Structure, and Properties of Polystyrene-Microsphere-Reinforced PEG-Based Hydrogels
by Chen Zhang, Zhanping Zhang and Yuhong Qi
Polymers 2021, 13(16), 2605; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym13162605 - 05 Aug 2021
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 3060
Abstract
To improve the mechanical strength and practicability of hydrogels, polystyrene microspheres with core–shell structure were prepared by the soap-free emulsion polymerization, polyethylene glycol hydrogels with polystyrene microspheres by the in-situ polymerization. The structure, morphology, roughness, swelling property, surface energy, and mechanical properties of [...] Read more.
To improve the mechanical strength and practicability of hydrogels, polystyrene microspheres with core–shell structure were prepared by the soap-free emulsion polymerization, polyethylene glycol hydrogels with polystyrene microspheres by the in-situ polymerization. The structure, morphology, roughness, swelling property, surface energy, and mechanical properties of the microspheres and hydrogels were investigated by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, confocal laser microscopy, swelling test, contact angle measurement, and compression test. The results showed that they have certain swelling capacity and excellent mechanical properties, and can change from hydrophobic to hydrophilic surface. The reason is that the hydrophilic chain segment can migrate, enrich, and form a hydration layer on the surface after soaking for a certain time. Introducing proper content of polystyrene microspheres into the hydrogel, the compressive strength and swelling degree improved obviously. Increasing the content of polystyrene microspheres, the surface energy of the hydrogels decreased gradually. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Polymer Hydrogels and Their Applications)
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20 pages, 8072 KiB  
Article
Recyclable Shape-Memory Waterborne Polyurethane Films Based on Perylene Bisimide Modified Polycaprolactone Diol
by Kang Wei, Haitao Zhang, Jianbo Qu, Jianyong Wang, Yang Bai and Futao Sai
Polymers 2021, 13(11), 1755; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym13111755 - 27 May 2021
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 2551
Abstract
Currently, much attention is given to the functionality and recyclability of waterborne polyurethane (WPU). Herein, ε-caprolactone was used as a chain extender for grafting onto perylene bisimide (PBI) and 1,4-butanediol (BDO) via ring-opening reactions to obtain PBI-PCL and BDO- PCL. Then, two kinds [...] Read more.
Currently, much attention is given to the functionality and recyclability of waterborne polyurethane (WPU). Herein, ε-caprolactone was used as a chain extender for grafting onto perylene bisimide (PBI) and 1,4-butanediol (BDO) via ring-opening reactions to obtain PBI-PCL and BDO- PCL. Then, two kinds of WPU, namely PBI-WPU (PWPU) and BDO-WPU (BWPU), were fabricated using PBI-PCL/polytetrahydrofuran ether glycol (PTMG) and BDO-PCL/PTMG, respectively, as mixed soft segments. The properties and appearance of PWPU and BWPU emulsions were analyzed in terms of particle size, zeta potential and TEM images, and the results showed that PWPU emulsions had uniform particle size distribution and decent storage stability. AFM and DMA results revealed that PWPU films possessed a more significant degree of microphase separation and a higher glass transition temperature (Tg) than BWPU films. The PWPU films displayed good shape-memory and mechanical properties, with tensile strength up to 58.25 MPa and elongation at break up to 1241.36%. TGA analysis indicated that PWPU films had better thermal stability than BWPU films. More importantly, the PWPU films could be dissolved in a mixed solvent of acetone/ethanol (v/v = 2:1) at room temperature. The dissolved PWPU could be dispersed in deionized water to prepare waterborne polyurethane again. After the recycling process was repeated three times, the recycled PWPU emulsion still exhibited good storage stability. The recycled PWPU films maintained their original thermal and mechanical properties. Comparing the properties of BWPU and PWPU showed that the soft segment structure had important influence on waterborne polyurethane performance. Therefore, PWPU may have great potential applications in making recycling and shape-memory coating or paint. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Polymer Hydrogels and Their Applications)
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11 pages, 1859 KiB  
Article
Preparation of Surface-Reinforced Superabsorbent Polymer Hydrogel Microspheres via Incorporation of In Situ Synthesized Silver Nanoparticles
by Semin Kim, Minsu Kim and Won-Gun Koh
Polymers 2021, 13(6), 902; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym13060902 - 15 Mar 2021
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2549
Abstract
Superabsorbent polymer (SAP) particles are primarily applied for absorbing and storing liquids. Here, poly (acrylic acid) (PAA)-based SAP microspheres incorporated with silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) are prepared as an effort to maintain microsphere shape during swelling and minimize gel blocking. PAA-based SAP spheres are [...] Read more.
Superabsorbent polymer (SAP) particles are primarily applied for absorbing and storing liquids. Here, poly (acrylic acid) (PAA)-based SAP microspheres incorporated with silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) are prepared as an effort to maintain microsphere shape during swelling and minimize gel blocking. PAA-based SAP spheres are synthesized via inverse suspension polymerization. AgNPs are formed within SAP spheres through in situ reduction of silver nitrate (AgNO3), using polyvinylpyrrolidone as the reducing agent. The formation of AgNPs within SAP was observed via techniques such as scanning electron microscopy, ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy. Energy dispersive spectroscopy analyses reveal that thin and dense layers of AgNPs are formed on the outer regions of the SAP spheres at higher concentrations of AgNO3. The water absorbency capacity decreases on increasing the amount of incorporated silver nanoparticles; however, it is comparable with that of commercially available surface-crosslinked SAP particles. Finally, micro-computerized tomography (micro-CT) study revealed that AgNP-incorporated SAP spheres maintained their shapes during swelling and exhibit higher void fractions in the packed gel bed, minimizing gel blocking and improving fluid permeability. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Polymer Hydrogels and Their Applications)
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Review

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15 pages, 4214 KiB  
Review
Gradient Hydrogels—Overview of Techniques Demonstrating the Existence of a Gradient
by Natalia Zinkovska, Miloslav Pekar and Jiri Smilek
Polymers 2022, 14(5), 866; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym14050866 - 23 Feb 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2300
Abstract
Gradient hydrogels are promising future materials which could be usable in tissue engineering (scaffolds), pharmaceutical (drug delivery systems with controlled release) and many others related disciplines. These hydrogels exhibit a more complex inner (gradient) structure (e.g., concentration gradient) than simple isotropic hydrogel. Gradient-structured [...] Read more.
Gradient hydrogels are promising future materials which could be usable in tissue engineering (scaffolds), pharmaceutical (drug delivery systems with controlled release) and many others related disciplines. These hydrogels exhibit a more complex inner (gradient) structure (e.g., concentration gradient) than simple isotropic hydrogel. Gradient-structured hydrogels could be beneficial in, for example, understanding intercellular interactions. The fabrication of gradient hydrogels has been relatively deeply explored, but a comprehensive description of the physico-chemical techniques demonstrating the existence of a gradient structure is still missing. Here, we summarize the state-of-the-art available experimental techniques applicable in proving and/or describing in physico-chemical terms the inner gradient structure of hydrogels. The aim of this paper is to give the reader an overview of the existing database of suitable techniques for characterizing gradient hydrogels. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Polymer Hydrogels and Their Applications)
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