Direct Observation of Internal Structures in Poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) Chemical Gels

Internal structures of translucent poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) gel were for the first time observed by laser scanning confocal microscopy (LSCM). The observed image reflected the mesoscopic internal structures in the gel due to the “fixed concentration fluctuations” of network polymers as described...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inMacromolecules Vol. 32; no. 21; pp. 7093 - 7099
Main Authors Hirokawa, Yoshitsugu, Jinnai, Hiroshi, Nishikawa, Yukihiro, Okamoto, Takuya, Hashimoto, Takeji
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Washington, DC American Chemical Society 19.10.1999
Subjects
Applied sciences
Exact sciences and technology
Organic polymers
Physicochemistry of polymers
Properties and characterization
Solution and gel properties
Colloidal gel
Domain structure
Internal structure
Confocal microscopy
Fabrication structure relation
Experimental study
Scanning mode
Acrylamide derivative polymer
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Summary:Internal structures of translucent poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) gel were for the first time observed by laser scanning confocal microscopy (LSCM). The observed image reflected the mesoscopic internal structures in the gel due to the “fixed concentration fluctuations” of network polymers as described in the text. Three-dimensional internal structures in the gel constructed from a series of the cross section images taken by the LSCM revealed that the gel had a bicontinuous domain structure consisting of regions dense and sparse in polymer networks.
Bibliography:ark:/67375/TPS-ZHF1TCT6-K
istex:089D29C6710227C523237012BE0A6907758CCC80
ISSN:0024-9297
1520-5835
DOI:10.1021/ma990437v