• Textile Coloration and Finishing
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.207-216
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• 2022

Hydrogels have gained considerable attention in various fields due to their easily transformative ability by different stimulation. In addition, metal-based conductive additives can enable the hydrogels to be conductive with dimension change. Although the development of the additives offered enhanced electrical properties to the hydrogels, correspondingly enhanced mechanical properties may limit the volume and electrical properties switching after stimulation. Here we prepared poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM) thermo-responsive hydrogel that has a 32℃ of low critical solution temperature and added liquid metal particles (LMPs) as conductive additives, possessing soft and stretchable benefits. The LMPs enabled PNIPAM (PNIPAM/LMPs) hydrogels to be constricted over 32℃ with a high volume switching ratio of 15.2 when deswelled. Once the LMPs are spontaneously oxidized in hydrogel culture, the LMPs can release gallium ions into the hydrogel nature. The released gallium ions and oxidized LMPs enhanced the modulus of the PNIPAM/LMPs hydrogel, triggering high mechanical stability during repeated swelling/deswelling behavior. Lastly, highly constricted PNIPAM/LMPs hydrogel provided a 5x10⁶ of electrical switching after deswelling, and the switching ratio was closely maintained after repeated swelling/deswelling transformation. This study opens up opportunities for hydrogel use requiring thermo-responsive and high electrical switching fields.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.359-365
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• 2008

We have fabricated a novel thermo-responsive nanofibrous surfaces by grafting PIPAAm by electron beam irradiation onto poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate)(PHBV) nanofibrous mats. The electrospun PHBV nanofiber structures revealed randomly aligned fibers with average diameter of 400 nm. Increased atomic percent of nitrogen was observed on the PIPAAm-grafted PHBV mats after electron beam irradiation determined by ESCA. The amounts of PIPAAm-grafted onto PHBV films were $6.49{\mu}g/cm^2$ determined by ATR-FTIR. The PIPAAm-grafted surfaces exhibited decreasing contact angles by lowering the temperature from 37 to $20^{\circ}C$, while ungrafted PHBV surfaces had negligible contact angle change. This result indicates that PIPAAm surfaces, which are hydrophobic at the higher temperature, became markedly more hydrophilic in response to a temperature reduction due to spontaneous hydration of the surface-grafted PIPAAm. Thermo-responsive nanofibers showed good tissue compatibility. Cultured cells were well detached and recovered from the surfaces by changing culture temperature from 37 to $20^{\circ}C$.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.539-546
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• 2013

Amino group-terminated poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAAm-$NH_2$) was synthesized via a radical polymerization of N-isopropylacrylamide (NIPAAm) using 2-aminoethanethiol hydrochloride (AESH) as a chain transfer agent. The molecular weight of the PNIPAAm-$NH_2$ was controlled by changing the concentration of AESH. The LCST of the aqueous solution of PNIPAAm-$NH_2$ increased slightly with increasing the AESH concentration. Alginate-g-PNIPAAm copolymer was synthesized by grafting PNIPAAm-$NH_2$ onto sodium alginate using N-(3-dimethylaminopropyl)-N'-ethylcarbodiimide and N-hydroxysuccinimide. The formation of the grafted copolymers was confirmed by FTIR spectroscopy, solubility in water, and SEM-EDS. Alginate-g-PNIPAAm also exhibited swelling-deswelling behavior. However, it showed a LCST at a slightly increased temperature compared to PNIPAAm. The swelling ratio of the alginate-g-PNIPAAm hydrogel increased with the increase of the grafted PNIPAAm content.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.37 no.6
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• pp.784-793
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• 2013

A two-step method for obtaining poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAAm) from poly(acrylonitrile) (PAN) was investigated in order to find a feasibility of imparting thermo-responsive property onto textile fiber materials. PAN was converted to poly(acrylic acid) (PAA) by hydrolysis at a first-step, and then PAA was converted to PNIPAAm at a second step via an amidation reaction of PAA with isopropylamine (IPA) in DMF medium using 1-ethyl-3-(3-dimethylaminopropyl) carbodiimide hydrochloride (EDC) and N-hydroxysuccinimide (NHS) as catalysts. High content of carboxylic groups at the first step was obtained by the successive alkaline and acid hydrolysis of PAN. The degree of conversion of PAA to PNIPAAm at the second step was dependent on the amount of catalysts EDC and NHS. PNIPAAm converted from PAA through amidation reaction showed a lower critical solution temperature (LCST) behavior when the conversion was higher than about 53%.

• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.63-72
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• 2022

Choline chloride-glycerol (1:2 mol), a natural deep eutectic solvent (NADES) is examined as a draw solution in forward osmosis (FO) for dewatering application. The NADES is easy to prepare, low in toxicity and environmentally benign. A polyamide thin film composite membrane was used. Characterization of the membrane confirmed porous membrane structure with good hydrophilicity and a low structural parameter (722 ㎛) suitable for FO application. A dilute solution of 20% (v/v) NADES was enough to generate moderate water flux (14.98 L m^-2h^-1) with relatively low reverse solute flux (0.125 g m^-2h^-1) with deionized water feed. Application in dewatering industrial wastewater feed showed reasonably good water flux (11.9 L m^-2h^-1) which could be maintained by controlling the external concentration polarization and fouling/scaling mitigation via simple periodic deionized water wash. In another application, clarified sugarcane juice could be successfully concentrated. Recovery of the draw solute was accomplished easily by chilling utilizing thermo responsive phase transition property of NADES. This study established that low concentration NADES can be a viable alternative as a draw solute for dewatering of wastewater and other heat sensitive applications along with a simple recovery process.