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Humidity responsiveness of a poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) gel with a PEG/water mixed solvent

Polymer Journal (2024)Cite this article

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Abstract

This manuscript presents the humidity responsiveness of a poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAAm) gel, which was capable of exhibiting volume changes. The strategy for inducing volume changes in the gel capitalized on the differences in PNIPAAm solubility, which stemmed from variations in the polyethylene glycol (PEG) proportions of PEG/water solvent mixtures. Due to the hygroscopic nature of PEG, PNIPAAm gels using PEG as the solvent (weight fraction of PEG, φPEG = 1.00) absorbed ambient moisture, resulting in a decrease in φPEG over time. In concert with this moisture absorption process, the PNIPAAm gel contracted owing to phase separation at a consistent room temperature, which was attributed to the diminished solubility of PNIPAAm in the solvent. During this investigation, we scrutinized the temperature dependency of the optical transmittance and conducted differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) assessments on free PNIPAAm in water across various φPEG values to substantiate phase separation of the system. We then demonstrated that a PNIPAAm gel with a PEG/water mixed solvent underwent volume changes in response to humidity changes. Additionally, humidity-induced shape deformations were realized with a PNIPAAm and poly(N,N-dimethylacrylamide) (PDMAAm) composite gel. This study introduces, for the first time, a humidity-responsive PNIPAAm gel with a PEG/water mixed solvent.

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Acknowledgements

This work was financially supported in part by a SENTAN grant (JPMJSN16B3) from the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST) (awarded to AMA) and MEXT KAKENHI for Transformative Research Area (A) (23721401) to AMA.

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Author notes

  1. Aya M. Akimoto

    Present address: Center for Interdisciplinary AI and Data Science (AI-DS), Ochanomizu University, 2-1-1, Otsuka, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 112-8610, Japan

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Materials Engineering, School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-8656, Japan

    Ryotaro Makita, Aya M. Akimoto, Takafumi Enomoto, Taihei Nishimoto & Ryo Yoshida

  2. Division of Soft Matter, Graduate School of Life Sciences, Hokkaido University, Kita 10, Nishi 8, Kita-ku, Sapporo, 060-0810, Japan

    Xiang Li

  3. The Comprehensive Research Organization for Science and Society (CROSS), IQBRC bldg., 162-1 Shirakata, Tokai, Naka, Ibaraki, 319-1106, Japan

    Mitsuhiro Shibayama

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  1. Ryotaro Makita
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Correspondence to Aya M. Akimoto or Ryo Yoshida.

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Makita, R., Akimoto, A.M., Enomoto, T. et al. Humidity responsiveness of a poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) gel with a PEG/water mixed solvent. Polym J (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41428-024-00900-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41428-024-00900-1

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