Hi!
I use UV and photoinitiator to gel my PEG-acrylate hydrogel. But I observe that when the temperature is lower (at night during winter), it's very easy to get pre-gelled before molding, even without the light. what is the reason behind?
Thanks very much!
Best Regards,
Zonghan
Polymer chains lose mobility at low temperatures, which gives them a more solid-like appearance similar to a gel. The difference is that this gel is not chemically crosslinked, so you may break it by reheating or a strong shear field (mixing). Once you crosslink the acrylic functional groups, you may no longer revert it back to a liquid. Or more precisely, you can only do that by breaking the covalent bonds, which usually requires either strong chemical agents or very high temperatures.
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