Abstract
Hydrogel dressings should be adhesive and elastic, while providing excellent functional and aesthetic features. Owing to weak intermolecular forces, various measures are undertaken to improve the hydrogel mechanical properties. Thermo-responsive poly(2-(2-methoxyethoxy)ethyl methacrylate) (poly(MEO2MA)) hydrogel fabricated with different amounts of di(ethylene glycol) dimethacrylate (DEGDMA) cross-linker was characterised using texture profile analysis. More cross-linking sites incorporated within the hydrogel limit the swelling ability where 1.0 and 10 mol-% of DEGDMA swell by 8.03 and 1.92 times, at 5°C. Hydrogel textural and tensile property correlated with the cross-linker amount. Meanwhile, network structure disentanglement within swollen hydrogel reduced the force required for deformation. Thus, the swelling behaviour, textural and tensile properties were investigated to discern the possible biomedical applications suitable for this hydrogel.
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