Equilibrium swelling properties of polyampholytic hydrogels

Anthony E. English, Salvador Mafé, José A. Manzanares, Xiahong Yu, Alexander Yu Grosberg, Toyoichi Tanaka

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    Abstract

    The role of counter ions and ion dissociation in establishing the equilibrium swelling of balanced and unbalanced polyampholytic hydrogels has been investigated experimentally and theoretically. The swelling dependence on both the net charge offset and the external bath salt concentration has been examined using an acrylamide based polyampholytic hydrogels. By careful consideration of the swelling kinetics, we illustrate the effects of ion dissociation equilibria and counter ion shielding in polyampholytic hydrogels near their balance point where both polyelectrolyte and polyampholyte effects are present. The theory considers a Flory type swelling model where the Coulombic interactions between fixed ions in the hydrogel resemble those of an ionic solid with a Debye screening factor. Theoretical predictions from this model are in qualitative agreement with our experimental results.

    Original languageEnglish (US)
    Pages (from-to)8713-8720
    Number of pages8
    JournalJournal of Chemical Physics
    Volume104
    Issue number21
    DOIs
    StatePublished - Jun 1 1996

    ASJC Scopus subject areas

    • General Physics and Astronomy
    • Physical and Theoretical Chemistry

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