Morphology of Photopolymerized End-linked Poly(ethylene glycol) Hydrogels by Small Angle X-ray Scattering.

ABSTRACT: Due to the biocompatibility of poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG), PEG-based hydrogels have attracted considerable interest for use as biomaterials in tissue engineering applications. In this work, we show that PEG-based hydrogels prepared by photopolymerization of PEG macromonomers functionalized with either acrylate or acrylamide end-groups generate networks with crosslink junctions of high functionality. Although the crosslink functionality is not well controlled, the resultant networks are sufficiently well ordered to generate a distinct correlation peak in the small angle x-ray scattering (SAXS) related to the distance between crosslink junctions within the PEG network. The crosslink spacing is a useful probe of the PEG chain conformation within the hydrogel and ranges from approximately 6 t

SUBMITTER: Waters DJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3055273 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature