Hybrid, elastomeric hydrogels crosslinked by multifunctional block copolymer micelles

Abstract

Amphiphlic block copolymers consisting of hydrophilic, poly(acrylic acid) randomly decorated with acrylate groups and hydrophobic, rubbery poly(n-butyl acrylate) self-assembled into well-defined micelles with an average diameter of ~21 nm. Radical polymerization of acrylamide in the presence of the crosslinkable micelles gave rise to hybrid, elastomeric hydrogels whose mechancial properties can be readily tuned by varying the BCM concentration.