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Direct visualization of nano and microscale polymer morphologies in as-prepared and dialyzed polyampholyte hydrogels by electron microscopy techniques

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Abstract

The structure of polymer networks in hydrogels determines the properties. In this study, we investigated the structure of a charge-balanced polyampholyte, poly(4-vinylbenzenesulfonate-co-[3-(methacryloylamino) propyl] trimethylammonium chloride). From as-prepared samples, nanoscale globules were visualized in polyampholyte hydrogels for the first time. The impact of dialyses processes on polymer structures were also studied. In deionized water, salt ions are leached out, thus polymer chains undergo zipping process to form cellular structure with micrometer-thick polymer walls that allow mechanical toughness to the hydrogel. Samples dialyzed in 6 M potassium hydroxide solution did not show such cellular structure, as in the case of as-prepared samples.

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Acknowledgments

The authors gratefully acknowledge funding from a NSERC DG (RGPIN 435914). Material characterization was partly done in the shared facility of the NanoFAB in the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Alberta. The use of the Advanced Photon Source was supported by the US DOE under Contract DE-AC02-06CH11357.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, T6 G 1H9, Canada

    Xinda Li, Hemant Charaya & Thuy Nguyen Thanh Tran

  2. Advanced Photon Source, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois, 60439, USA

    Byeongdu Lee

  3. National Research Council of Canada (NRC), 11421 Saskatchewan Drive NW, Edmonton, Alberta, T6 G 2M9, Canada

    Jae-Young Cho

  4. Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, T6 G 2M9, Canada

    Hyun-Joong Chung

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  1. Xinda Li
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  2. Hemant Charaya
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  3. Thuy Nguyen Thanh Tran
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  4. Byeongdu Lee
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Correspondence to Hyun-Joong Chung.

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The supplementary material for this article can be found at https://doi.org/10.1557/mrc.2018.149

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Supplementary material

The supplementary material for this article can be found at {rs|https://doi.org/10.1557/mrc.2018.149|url}

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Li, X., Charaya, H., Nguyen Thanh Tran, T. et al. Direct visualization of nano and microscale polymer morphologies in as-prepared and dialyzed polyampholyte hydrogels by electron microscopy techniques. MRS Communications 8, 1079–1084 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1557/mrc.2018.149

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