Milani, A.H., Fielding, L.A., Greensmith, P. et al. (10 more authors) (2017) Anisotropic pH-Responsive Hydrogels Containing Soft or Hard Rod-Like Particles Assembled Using Low Shear. Chemistry of Materials, 29 (7). pp. 3100-3110. ISSN 0897-4756
Abstract
© 2017 American Chemical Society.A simple and versatile low-shear approach for assembling hydrogels containing aligned rod-like particles (RLPs) that are birefringent and exhibit pH-triggered anisotropic swelling is developed. Anisotropic composite hydrogels are prepared by applying low shear (0.1 s-1) to mixtures of pH-responsive nanogels (NGs) and RLPs. The NGs, which contained high methacrylic acid contents, acted as both shear transfer vehicles and macro-cross-linkers for anisotropic gel formation. Three model RLP systems are investigated: (i) soft triblock copolymer worms, (ii) stiff self-assembled β-sheet peptide fibers, and (iii) ultrahigh modulus nanocrystalline cellulose fibers. RLP alignment was confirmed using polarized light imaging, atomic force microscopy, and small-angle X-ray scattering as well as modulus and anisotropic swelling experiments. Unexpectedly, the composite gel containing the soft copolymer worms showed the most pronounced anisotropy swelling. The copolymer worms enabled higher RLP loadings than was possible for the stiffer RLPs. For fixed RLP loading, the extent of anisotropic swelling increased with intra-RLP bonding strength. The facile and versatile approach to anisotropic gel construction demonstrated herein is expected to enable new applications for strain sensing or biomaterials for soft tissue repair.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2017 American Chemical Society. This is an author produced version of a paper subsequently published in Chemistry of Materials. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Science (Sheffield) > Department of Chemistry (Sheffield) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 04 May 2017 16:10 |
Last Modified: | 18 Feb 2018 01:38 |
Published Version: | https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.chemmater.7b00110 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | American Chemical Society |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1021/acs.chemmater.7b00110 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:115957 |