Modeling Controlled Photodegradation in Optically Thick Hydrogels.

ABSTRACT: There is a growing interest in developing dynamically responsive hydrogels whose material properties are modulated by environmental cues, including with light. These photoresponsive hydrogels afford spatiotemporal control of material properties through an array of photoaddition and photodegradation reactions. For photoresponsive hydrogels to be utilized most effectively in a broad range of applications, the photoreaction behavior should be well understood, enabling the design of dynamic materials with uniform or anisostropic material properties. Here, a general statistical-kinetic model has been developed to describe controlled photodegradation in hydrogel polymer networks containing photolabile crosslinks. The heterogeneous reaction rates that necessarily accompany photochemical reactions

SUBMITTER: Tibbitt MW 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3785226 | biostudies-literature | 2013 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature