title: Effects of crosslinker on the morphology and properties of microgels containing N-vinylformamide, glycidylmethacrylate and vinylamine.
abstract: Microgels are swollen crosslinked polymer colloid particles. We used non-aqueous dispersion polymerisation to prepare new water-swellable microgels containing N-vinylformamide (NVF), glycidylmethacrylate (GMA) and an alkali-stable crosslinker, 2-(N-vinylformamido)ethyl ether (NVE). The microgel particles had a core that was rich in NVF. The shell contained GMA and NVF. In order to expose the amine functionality, alkaline hydrolysis was used, transforming the NVF groups in the shell to vinylamine (VAM) while leaving most NVF in the core untouched. The hydrolysed microgels (H-NVF-GMA-NVE) were cationic at low pH and were shown to have polyampholyte behaviour. Inclusion of NVE had the beneficial effects of preventing microphase separation at the microgel surface and stabilising the polyampholyte structure against excessive fragmentation during hydrolysis. These new water-swellable core-shell microgels were prepared using scalable methods and may enable future preparation of functionalised core-shell microgels and composites.
authors.affiliation: Biomaterials Research Group, Manchester Materials Science Centre, School of Materials, The University of Manchester, Grosvenor Street, Manchester M1 7HS, UK. Electronic address: judith.mccann@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Judith
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: McCann
authors.forename: Sineenat
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Thaiboonrod
authors.forename: Rein V
authors.initials: RV
authors.lastname: Ulijn
authors.forename: Brian R
authors.initials: BR
authors.lastname: Saunders
mesh_terms: D000588:Amines; D003432:Cross-Linking Reagents / Q000737:chemistry; D004852:Epoxy Compounds / Q000737:chemistry*; D005559:Formamides / Q000737:chemistry*; D005782:Gels / Q000737:chemistry; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D006868:Hydrolysis; D008689:Methacrylates / Q000737:chemistry*; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D017550:Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared; D014753:Vinyl Compounds / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D000588:Amines; D003432:Cross-Linking Reagents; D004852:Epoxy Compounds; D005559:Formamides; D005782:Gels; D008689:Methacrylates; D014753:Vinyl Compounds; C581348:trans-N-vinylformamide; C007870:glycidyl methacrylate
keywords: Glycidylmethacrylate; Microgel; N-vinylformamide; Polyampholyte; Polymer particles; Vinylamine