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Sponge-like Cryogels from Liquid–Liquid Phase Separation: Structure, Porosity, and Diffusional Gel Properties
[Image: see text] Macroporous gels find application in several scientific fields, ranging from art restoration to wastewater filtration or cell entrapment. In this work, two-component sponge-like cryogels are challenged to assess their cleaning performances and to investigate how pores size and conn...
Autores principales: | , , , , |
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
American Chemical Society
2023
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Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10561144/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37515546 http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acsami.3c03239 |
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author | Mastrangelo, Rosangela Resta, Claudio Carretti, Emiliano Fratini, Emiliano Baglioni, Piero |
author_facet | Mastrangelo, Rosangela Resta, Claudio Carretti, Emiliano Fratini, Emiliano Baglioni, Piero |
author_sort | Mastrangelo, Rosangela |
collection | PubMed |
description | [Image: see text] Macroporous gels find application in several scientific fields, ranging from art restoration to wastewater filtration or cell entrapment. In this work, two-component sponge-like cryogels are challenged to assess their cleaning performances and to investigate how pores size and connectivity affect physico-chemical properties. The gels were obtained through a freeze–thaw process, exploiting a spontaneous polymer–polymer phase-separation occurring in the pre-gel solution. During the freezing step, a highly hydrolyzed polyvinyl alcohol (H-PVA) forms the hydrogel walls. The secondary components, namely a partially hydrolyzed polyvinyl alcohol (L-PVA) or polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP), act as modular porogens, being partially extracted during gel washing. H-PVA/L-PVA and H-PVA/PVP mixtures were studied by confocal laser scanning microscopy to unveil sols and gels morphology at the micron-scale, while small angle X-ray scattering was used to get insights about characteristic dimensions at the nanoscale. The gelation mechanism was investigated through rheology measurements, and the characteristic exponents were compared to De Gennes’ scaling laws gathered from percolation. In the field of art conservation, these sponge-like gels are ideal systems for the cleaning of artistic painted surfaces. Their interconnected pores allow the diffusion of cleaning fluids at the painted interface, facilitating dirt uptake and/or detachment. This study uncovered a direct relationship linking a gel’s cleaning performance to its apparent tortuosity. These findings can pave the way to fine-tuning systems with enhanced cleaning abilities, not restricted to the restoration of irreplaceable priceless works of art, but with possible application in diverse research fields. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-10561144 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2023 |
publisher | American Chemical Society |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-105611442023-10-10 Sponge-like Cryogels from Liquid–Liquid Phase Separation: Structure, Porosity, and Diffusional Gel Properties Mastrangelo, Rosangela Resta, Claudio Carretti, Emiliano Fratini, Emiliano Baglioni, Piero ACS Appl Mater Interfaces [Image: see text] Macroporous gels find application in several scientific fields, ranging from art restoration to wastewater filtration or cell entrapment. In this work, two-component sponge-like cryogels are challenged to assess their cleaning performances and to investigate how pores size and connectivity affect physico-chemical properties. The gels were obtained through a freeze–thaw process, exploiting a spontaneous polymer–polymer phase-separation occurring in the pre-gel solution. During the freezing step, a highly hydrolyzed polyvinyl alcohol (H-PVA) forms the hydrogel walls. The secondary components, namely a partially hydrolyzed polyvinyl alcohol (L-PVA) or polyvinyl pyrrolidone (PVP), act as modular porogens, being partially extracted during gel washing. H-PVA/L-PVA and H-PVA/PVP mixtures were studied by confocal laser scanning microscopy to unveil sols and gels morphology at the micron-scale, while small angle X-ray scattering was used to get insights about characteristic dimensions at the nanoscale. The gelation mechanism was investigated through rheology measurements, and the characteristic exponents were compared to De Gennes’ scaling laws gathered from percolation. In the field of art conservation, these sponge-like gels are ideal systems for the cleaning of artistic painted surfaces. Their interconnected pores allow the diffusion of cleaning fluids at the painted interface, facilitating dirt uptake and/or detachment. This study uncovered a direct relationship linking a gel’s cleaning performance to its apparent tortuosity. These findings can pave the way to fine-tuning systems with enhanced cleaning abilities, not restricted to the restoration of irreplaceable priceless works of art, but with possible application in diverse research fields. American Chemical Society 2023-07-29 /pmc/articles/PMC10561144/ /pubmed/37515546 http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acsami.3c03239 Text en © 2023 The Authors. Published by American Chemical Society https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Permits the broadest form of re-use including for commercial purposes, provided that author attribution and integrity are maintained (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). |
spellingShingle | Mastrangelo, Rosangela Resta, Claudio Carretti, Emiliano Fratini, Emiliano Baglioni, Piero Sponge-like Cryogels from Liquid–Liquid Phase Separation: Structure, Porosity, and Diffusional Gel Properties |
title | Sponge-like Cryogels
from Liquid–Liquid Phase
Separation: Structure, Porosity, and Diffusional Gel Properties |
title_full | Sponge-like Cryogels
from Liquid–Liquid Phase
Separation: Structure, Porosity, and Diffusional Gel Properties |
title_fullStr | Sponge-like Cryogels
from Liquid–Liquid Phase
Separation: Structure, Porosity, and Diffusional Gel Properties |
title_full_unstemmed | Sponge-like Cryogels
from Liquid–Liquid Phase
Separation: Structure, Porosity, and Diffusional Gel Properties |
title_short | Sponge-like Cryogels
from Liquid–Liquid Phase
Separation: Structure, Porosity, and Diffusional Gel Properties |
title_sort | sponge-like cryogels
from liquid–liquid phase
separation: structure, porosity, and diffusional gel properties |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10561144/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37515546 http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acsami.3c03239 |
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