Facile synthesis of sliding poly(NIPA) gels using a vinyl modified polyrotaxane as a cross-linker

Abstract

A unique hydrogel has been synthesized using supramolecular polyrotaxane as the starting material. Sparsely dispersed α-cyclodextrins threaded into long polyethylene glycol axle (Mw=35000) trapped with a stable capping agent, 1-adamantanamine of polyrotaxane (PR) unit was used for this purpose. The modification of the hydroxyl groups of α-CDs of the PR by a vinyl monomer containing an active isocyanate group at one end resulted in the formation of a stable carbamate bond with hydroxyl groups to give the modified polyrotaxane based cross-linker (MPR). Polymer gels were designed using MPR as a cross-linker and N-isopropylacrylamide, NIPA as a monomer and transparent, very soft, flexible, fast responsive and mechanically improved polymer gels could be obtained. The polymer chains can slide and rotate about the movable cross-linker in the gel network, which potentially improves the properties of the gels over conventional chemically cross-linked polymer gel.