SWELLING AND SOLUTE-PARTITIONING BEHAVIOR OF HYDROGELS

水凝胶具有重要的医疗和制药应用， 尤其是隐形眼镜材料、药物输送工具和 人造器官。这项工作涉及到建立一个量化的 了解水凝胶在水中的性质，可能包含 生物上重要的溶质。重点放在根本上 水凝胶溶胀和溶质的实验和理论研究 用于指导新型材料的设计的隔断行为 在医药和制药行业找到应用。 2-羟乙基共聚合成新型水凝胶 甲基丙烯酸酯(HEMA)和精选的特种共聚单体；添加 已选择共聚单体来提供特定的溶胀和溶质- 对水凝胶的分配行为。它们的溶胀性能 水凝胶将作为水凝胶结构的函数进行测量(交叉- 链接密度、单体浓度、共聚单体浓度)和溶液 条件(温度、离子强度、pH、溶质浓度)。溶质 将测量一系列溶质在不同水凝胶中的分配。 和解决条件。已经选择了模型溶质来覆盖一个范围 相对分子质量和化学组成。我们将注意到 生物医学中对分配行为感兴趣的模型溶质 水凝胶的应用。 将建立相关水凝胶的分子热力学模型。 水凝胶、溶质和溶液的溶胀和溶质分配行为 属性。初步结果表明，传统的模型 水凝胶弹性不能将溶胀行为描述为 单体浓度。水凝胶网络的力学测量 将进行弹性调整，以提供有助于应用新的 水凝胶体系的弹性理论。要了解微观结构是如何 影响水凝胶在溶液中的性能，透射电子显微镜 将用于观察水凝胶的微观结构作为水凝胶的函数 化学和作文。从推断的结构-属性关系 微观结构观察将有助于模型的开发。 这项研究将为生物多样性的研究提供基础的物理化学信息。 水凝胶的性质以及它们与水凝胶的相互作用 医学上重要的溶质的水溶液。此信息将 协助设计和开发新型水凝胶材料 在医药和药学方面的应用。

Hydrogels have significant medical and pharmaceutical applications, particularly for contact-lens materials, drug-delivery vehicles, and artificial organs. This work is concerned with establishing a quantitative understanding of the properties of hydrogels in water which may contain biologically important solutes. Emphasis is directed at fundamental experimental and theoretical studies of hydrogel swelling and solute- partitioning behavior for guiding the design of novel materials that may find application in medicine and pharmacy. Novel hydrogels will be synthesized by copolymerizing 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA) with selected specialty comonomers; the added comonomers have been chosen to impart specific swelling and solute- partitioning behavior to the hydrogels. Swelling properties of these hydrogels will be measured as a function of the hydrogel structure (cross- link density, monomer concentration, comonomer concentration) and solution conditions (temperature, ionic strength, pH, solute concentration). Solute partitioning will be measured for a series of solutes at varying hydrogel and solution conditions. Model solutes have been chosen to cover a range of molecular weight and chemical constitution. Attention will be given to model solutes whose partitioning behavior is of interest in biomedical applications of hydrogels. A molecular-thermodynamic model will be established for relating hydrogel swelling and solute-partitioning behavior to hydrogel, solute, and solution properties. Preliminary results suggest that conventional models for hydrogel elasticity cannot describe swelling behavior as a function of monomer concentration. Mechanical measurements of hydrogel-network elasticity will be performed to provide data that will aid in applying new elasticity theories to hydrogel systems. To understand how microstructure affects hydrogel performance in solution, transmission electron microscopy will be used to observe hydrogel microstructure as a function of hydrogel chemistry and composition. Structure-property relationships inferred from microstructure observations will aid in model development. This research will provide fundamental physico-chemical information of the properties of hydrogels, and on the interactions of these hydrogels with aqueous solutions of medically important solutes. This information will aid in the design and development of novel hydrogel materials for applications in medicine and pharmacy.