Engineering Commons^™

Increasing Mechanical Properties Of A Double Network Hydrogel From Polyacrylamide And Agar With Methylenebisacrylamide As A Photocrosslinker, Madelyn Jeske

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Double Network hydrogels are three dimensional networks of a soft, mechanically tough material that have been used for drug delivery, agriculture, adhesives, and other widely applicable uses. Using the one-pot method, a single hydrogel can be produced in 3 hours as opposed to the once demonstrated three days. It has been found that with a first, physically cross linked network and a second, chemically cross linked, hybrid double network hydrogels exhibit high mechanical properties and are freeshapeable. Agar is a thermoreversible organic molecule with a triple helix structure that provides an excellent first network that organizes into aggregate bundles once …