Issue 44, 2016

Click reactive microgels as a strategy towards chemically injectable hydrogels

Abstract

Doubly crosslinked microgels (DX microgels) are hydrogels constructed by covalently interlinked microgel particles, offering two levels of hierarchy within the network, the first one being the microgel and the second being the interlinked microgel network. Herein we describe an efficient approach for DX microgel synthesis via the ultrafast triazolinedione (TAD)-based click reaction. Cyclopentadienyl functional microgels were prepared by a conventional water in oil (W/O) suspension, free-radical copolymerization of poly(ethylene glycol)methyl ether methacrylate (Mn = 500 g mol−1) with glycidyl methacrylate and ethylene glycol dimethacrylate as crosslinkers. Microgel post-modification was subsequently achieved by reacting glycidyl functions with sodium cyclopentadienide (NaCp), resulting in Cp-functionalized microgels. Finally, the microgels were mixed with a bis-TAD functional crosslinker, resulting in crosslinking with adequate kinetics (minutes to seconds) to form a doubly crosslinked microgel network. Size distributions of swollen microgels before creation of the second network were followed by optical microscopy and particle size measurements. The efficient functionalization of the microgels with Cp units was demonstrated by a fluorescence labelling study. Dynamic rheology data showed the increase of mechanical properties from the microgels to the doubly crosslinked microgel network formed after addition of the TAD crosslinker. The current study thus highlights the efficiency of catalyst free modular ligation chemistry to synthesize DX microgels with a very fast gelation process from 5 minutes to 15 seconds depending on the crosslinker to Cp ratio, from 0.7 to 1 respectively.

Graphical abstract: Click reactive microgels as a strategy towards chemically injectable hydrogels

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
23 Sep 2016
Accepted
12 Oct 2016
First published
12 Oct 2016

Polym. Chem., 2016,7, 6752-6760

Click reactive microgels as a strategy towards chemically injectable hydrogels

R. Absil, S. Çakir, S. Gabriele, P. Dubois, C. Barner-Kowollik, F. Du Prez and L. Mespouille, Polym. Chem., 2016, 7, 6752 DOI: 10.1039/C6PY01663D

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