A series of glucose‐based degradable superabsorbent hydrogels with potential to tackle issues associated with sustainability, flooding, and drought has been designed and fabricated. These hydrophilic networks were constructed through integrating glucose as a primary building block –into cyclic oligomers and block polymers, which were combined into mechanically‐interlocked slide‐ring crosslinked materials. Crosslinking of slide ring α‐cyclodextrin/poly(ethylene glycol)‐type polyrotaxanes with acid‐functionalized ABA triblock copolymers comprised of mercaptopropionic acid‐functionalized poly(glucose carbonate (ethyl propargyl carbonate))‐
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Synthesizing soft polymers with uncommon architectural elements is critical for enhancing our understanding of fundamental structure–property relationships in macromolecules. Terpenoid materials are interesting candidates for addressing this grand challenge, as their constituent monomers can exhibit a diverse array of structural and functional groups. Moreover, these biologically‐derived materials can potentially expand the sphere of knowledge surrounding trends in related petrochemically‐derived polymers. For example, vinyl‐addition copolymers of norbornene and acyclic olefins can exhibit predictable properties (e.g., linear changes in
- Award ID(s):
- 2206955
- NSF-PAR ID:
- 10413058
- Publisher / Repository:
- Wiley Blackwell (John Wiley & Sons)
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Journal of Polymer Science
- Volume:
- 61
- Issue:
- 17
- ISSN:
- 2642-4150
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- p. 1995-2001
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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Abstract b ‐poly(ethylene glycol)‐b ‐mercaptopropionic acid‐functionalized poly(glucose carbonate (ethyl propargyl carbonate)), afforded degradable superabsorbent hydrogels through establishment of chemically‐labile ester linkages, in addition to glycosidic and carbonate groups of the polymer precursors. With an emphasis on development of fundamental synthetic design strategies to achieve high‐performance superabsorbent hydrogels that could behave as robust materials, which are derived from natural components and exhibit hydrolytic degradability, effort went into optimization of the composition, structure, and topology leading to water uptake capacities >30× by mass. Investigations of composition‐structure‐topology‐morphology effects on properties as a function of variations of PEG main chain length, degree of α‐cyclodextrin coverage, and concentration of pre‐gel solution, indicated that the slide‐ring polymer and triblock copolymer networks feature high water uptake, tunable mechanical properties, and sustainability with construction from renewable natural products and in‐built degradability. -
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