Abstract
Formation of tissue conditioners is a process of polymer chain entanglements. This study evaluated the influence of composition and structure on dynamic viscoelasticity of concentrated polymer solutions based on poly(ethyl methacrylate) (PEMA) used as tissue conditioners through the sol-gel transition. The hypothesis was that the ethanol content is the most influential factor in determining gelation speed. Rheological parameters were determined with the use of a controlled-stress rheometer. Analysis of variance by orthogonal array L16(45) indicated that the strong polar bonding of ethanol (contribution ratio ρ = 53.8%; confirming the hypothesis) and molecular weight of polymer powders (ρ = 26.7%) had a greater influence on the gelation times of PEMA-based systems than did the molar volume of plasticizers (ρ = 9.0%) and concentration of polymers (i.e., powder/liquid ratio) (ρ = 4.5%). The results suggest that the gelation of tissue conditioners based on PEMA can be controlled over a wide range by varying the polymer molecular weight, and especially ethanol content.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
