The swelling and deswelling behavior of poly(methacrylic acid) (PMAA) thin films and the permeability of poly(styrene) (PS) membranes was investigated using quartz crystal microbalance and ellipsometry. The system consisted of either homopolymer PMAA film or diblock poly(methyl methacrylate)-poly(methacrylic acid) (PMMA-PMAA) brushes with a hydrophobic PS membrane capping layer. Results show that PMAA swells more under high pH values (pH 10) than under low pH values (pH 5 to 7). Additionally, the deswelling rate depends strongly on the film thickness as well as on the duration of the system’s exposure to water. This result is significant for its mechanical application to hydrogels, which are used as synthetic alternatives to toughen biological materials (such as tissues) that can be used in tissue engineering, artificial cartilage, and filtration membranes.

Last modified

• 07/24/2018

Creator

• Yan Sun
• DivineJoy A. Akparanta
• Kenneth R. Shull

DOI

• https://doi.org/10.21985/N22T59

Keyword

• Volume 7

Date created

• 2010

Resource type

• Article

Rights statement

• In Copyright