Tough and Porous Hydrogels Prepared by Simple Lyophilization of LC Gels.

ABSTRACT: Porous hydrogels possessing mechanical toughness were prepared from sacran, a supergiant liquid crystalline (LC) polysaccharide produced from Aphanothece sacrum. First, layered hydrogels were prepared by thermal cross-linking of film cast over a sacran LC solution. Then, anisotropic pores were constructed using a freeze-drying technique on the water-swollen layered hydrogels. Scanning electron microscopic observation revealed that pores were observable only on the side faces of sponge materials parallel to the layered structure but never on the top or bottom faces. The pore size, porosity, and swelling behavior were controlled by the thermal-cross-linking temperature. To clarify the freezing effect, a freeze-thawing method was used for comparison. The freeze-thawed hydrogels also fo

SUBMITTER: Sornkamnerd S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6641907 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature