Studies on thermal and swelling properties of Poly (NIPAM-co-2-HEA) based hydrogels

Thermoresponsive hydrogels based on N-Isopropylacrylamide (NIPAM) and 2-Hydroxyethylacrylate (HEA) were prepared by free radical polymerization. The hydrogels were characterized by elemental (CHN) analysis, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and thermo gravimetric analysis (TGA). DSC thermogram showed two endothermic transitions which are due to hydration of water present in different environments. One near called melting transition of ice and was used to calculate the quantitative determination of the amounts of freezing and non freezing water. The other transition above the ambient temperature was due to the combination of hydrophobic hydration and hydrophilic hydration which changes with the copolymer compositions. Swelling and deswelling studies of the hydrogels were carried out using the aqueous media, salt and urea solutions. The experimental results from swelling studies revealed that copolymers have lower rates of swelling and deswelling than the homopolymer.