CHARACTERIZATION OF HYDROGELS USING NUCLEAR-MAGNETIC-RESONANCE SPECTROSCOPY

Literature relevant to characterization of hydrogels and cross-linked polymer networks using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy h as been extensively reviewed. After a brief introduction to the fundam entals of NMR spectroscopy, a variety of NMR techniques are considered , including C-13 NMR of swollen polymer networks, end-group studies by C-13 NMR With labelled initiators, spin-spin and spin-lattice relaxat ional studies to distinguish species based upon mobility, and characte rization of specific interactions using the nuclear Overhauser effect. Finally, a brief treatment of the characterization of polymer structu ral quantities such as composition, tacticity and sequence distributio n by NMR spectroscopic studies is presented. Although our discussion i s representative rather than exhaustive, we are confident that this re view will demonstrate the utility of NMR spectroscopy for characteriza tion of hydrogel networks which have applications as biomaterials.