I am interested in photosensitive systems consist of several components - polymer, crosslinker and a cleavage type (type 1) photoinitiator.
For example, photocrosslinked hydrogel scaffolds were obtained from methacrylated chitosan + PEG-DA + Irgacure 2959 in [http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.actbio.2015.02.025] or methacrylated hyaluronic acid + PEG-DA + Irgacure 2959 in [DOI:10.1021/bm401712q].
Would quantum chemical methods be useful for determining the most probable reaction mechanisms in such multi-component systems?
Thanks for your help.
Swelling test can be used to determine how crosslinked the gel is . Compression tests by Instron can be used to measure mechanical properties such as toughness which can be used to understand the structure.
Crosslinked hydrogel has random distribution of crosslink sites in it ,so can't be determined chemically.but its properties can be measured by swelling studies combined with mathematical eq. u can see my publications related to network parameters of hydrogels.
