Interpenetrating network (IPN) hydrogels composing of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAAm) using inorganic clay (Laponite XLS) as physically crosslinking agent and polyacrylamide (PAAm) chemically crosslinked by N,N′-methylenebis(acrylamide) (MBAAm)
were prepared by ultraviolet irradiation polymerization.The structure of resultant IPN hydrogels was successfully characterized by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM); the water retention at 50℃ was measured gravimetrically; dependence of storage modulus on temperature and phase transition behavior were investigated by dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC)
respectively.The results show that this kind of IPN hydrogels are temperature-sensitive
and
compared with inorganically crosslinking PNIPAAm hydrogels
these IPN hydrogels exhibit enhanced storage modulus and ultrafast response rate
such as losing water of 90% within 10 min because of the porous structure which provides the waterreleasing channel; by incorporation of PAAm network
the phase transition of PNIPAAm hydrogels is weakened
but the lower critical solution temperature (LCST) is increased.