Dual Temperature and Metal Salts-Responsive Interpenetrating Polymer Networks Composed of Poly (N-isopropylacrylamide) and Polyethylene Glycol

Novel interpenetrating polymer networks (IPNs) composed of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (poly-NIPAM) and polyethers—namely, polyethylene glycol (PEG) and poly(tetramethylene oxide)—were synthesized in the absence and presence of polysiloxane containing a silanol residue. Gelation was accomplished using end-capped polyethers with trimethoxysilyl moieties and proceeded through simultaneous radical gelation of NIPAM and condensation of the silyl groups to form siloxane linkages. Thus, a novel one-step method constructing an IPN structure was provided. The obtained IPNs showed a gentle temperature-responsive volume change in water owing to the constructed poly-NIPAM gel component. In addition, a specific color-change response to chemical stimuli, such as CuCl(2) and AgNO(3) in water, was observed only when both components of poly-NIPAM and PEG existed in a gel form. For example, a single network gel composed of poly-NIPAM or PEG was isolated as a pale blue hydrogel, whereas IPNs composed of poly-NIPAM and PEG components turned yellow after swelling in an aqueous CuCl(2) solution (0.1 M, pale blue). Dual-responsive functionalities of the synthesized hydrogels to temperature and metal salts, along with volume and color changes, were demonstrated.