Microwave-assisted preparation of temperature sensitive poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) hydrogels in poly(ethylene oxide)-600

In this article, a series of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM)-based hydrogels were prepared under microwave irradiation using poly(ethylene oxide)-600 (PEO-600) as reaction medium and microwave-absorbing agent as well as pore-forming agent. All of the temperature measurements, gel fractions, and FTIR analyses proved that the PNIPAM hydrogels were successfully synthesized. Within 1 min, the PNIPAM hydrogel with a 98% yield was obtained under microwave irradiation. The PNIPAM hydrogels thus prepared exhibited controllable properties such as pore size, equilibrium swelling ratios, and swelling/deswelling rates when changing the feed weight ratios of monomer (N-isopropylacrylamide, NIPAM) to PEO-600. These properties are well adapted to the different requirements for their potential application in many fields such as biomedicine. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 102:4177–4184, 2006