Swelling behaviour of gels in various solvents and binary mixtures and solubility parameters

What is it about?

Swelling behaviour of poly(N-vinylcaprolactam) (PVC) and poly(N-vinylcaprolactam-co-itaconic acid) (P(VC-co-IA)) gels was investigated in different solvents (water, ethanol, methanol, isopropyl alcohol (IPA), chloroform, toluene, acetone) and in binary solvent mixtures (ethanol/chloroform, ethanol/methanol, IPA/chloroform, ethanol/water, IPA/water). Ethanol/distilled water mixture (φr = 4 : 1) was used as the synthesis medium to determine its effect on the swelling of gels. It was found that the presence of water in the synthesis medium significantly affected the equilibrium swelling value (ESV). Solubility parameters of gels were predicted by the van Krevelen–Hoftyzer (VKH) and Hoy methods (group contribution methods) and theoretical calculations verified the experimental swelling order.

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Why is it important?

The swelling behaviour of poly(N-vinylcaprolactam), and poly(N-vinylcaprolactam-co-itaconic acid) gels was investigated in various solvents and in solvent mixtures. Swelling behaviour of gels was compared using theoretically calculated solubility parameters and solubility parameter differences and the influence of the gel composition and the synthesis medium on the solubility parameter values of gels were explained.

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