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Preparation of PNIPAM-Azo by RAFT polymerization and their application in thermo- and light-responsive hydrogel

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Abstract

Thermo-responsive poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) with terminal azobenzene group (PNIPAM-Azo) can show distinct property changes in response to temperature and light. In this paper, azobenzene-terminated trithiocarbonate (DDMAT-Azo) was synthesized as chain transfer agent, with which PNIPAM-Azo was prepared by reversible addition-fragmentation transfer (RAFT) polymerization of NIPAM in 1, 4-dioxane at 80 °C under N2 atmosphere, azodiisobutyronitrile as initiator. The structure of DDMAT-Azo was characterized by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and fourier transform infrared spectra, and PNIPAM-Azo was characterized by NMR spectra and Gel Permeation Chromatography (GPC). The result from GPC showed the numerical average molecular weight of PNIPAM-Azo was 3870 and its molecular weight distribution index was 1.31. Furthermore, thermo- and light-responsive hydrogel was obtained by introducing PNIPAM-Azo. Both PNIPAM-Azo and the hydrogel showed good light sensitivity and thermo sensitivity. Such double-stimuli sensitive hydrogel will be applied in biomaterials such as sensor, drug controlled release, information storage etc.

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Data availability

The authors confirm that the data supporting the findings of this study are available within the article. Otherwise, the data that support the findings of this study can be obtained from the corresponding author, [Li], upon reasonable request.

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Acknowledgments

This work was financially supported by National Natural Science foundation of China (21975139) and Department of Chemistry, Qingdao University of Science and Technology (No. QUSTHX201812).

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  1. College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, Qingdao University of Science and Technology, Qingdao, 266042, China

    Dongxiang Li, Xing Qian, Rui Huang & Chunfang Li

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  1. Dongxiang Li
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  2. Xing Qian
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Correspondence to Dongxiang Li or Chunfang Li.

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Li, D., Qian, X., Huang, R. et al. Preparation of PNIPAM-Azo by RAFT polymerization and their application in thermo- and light-responsive hydrogel. J Polym Res 30, 155 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10965-023-03541-9

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