Rate-based approach for controlling the mechanical properties of 'thiol-ene' hydrogels formed with visible light.

ABSTRACT: The mechanical properties of synthetic hydrogels traditionally have been controlled with the concentration, molecular weight, or stoichiometry of the macromolecular building blocks used for hydrogel formation. Recently, the rate of formation has been recognized as an important and effective handle for controlling the mechanical properties of these water-swollen polymer networks, owing to differences in network heterogeneity (e.g., defects) that arise based on the rate of gelation. Building upon this, in this work, we investigate a rate-based approach for controlling mechanical properties of hydrogels both initially and temporally with light. Specifically, synthetic hydrogels are formed with visible light-initiated thiol-ene 'click' chemistry (PEG-8-norbornene, dithiol linker, LAP photoinit

SUBMITTER: Wiley KL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7218207 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature