PREDICTION OF SWELLING BEHAVIOR OF HYDROGELS CONTAINING DIPROTIC ACIDMOIETIES

Prediction of swelling behaviour of hydrogels containing diprotic acid moieties, sensitive to pH and ionic strength changes of the swelling medium, was investigated. The equations derived for the prediction of the theoretical swelling curves are based on the phantom network theor y of Erman et al. and the approaches of Peppas er al. For all predicti ons, a number of polymer-based parameters, solution property parameter s and polymer-solvent combination type parameters were evaluated typic al of dicarboxylated copolymers. The advantages of the derived equatio ns for the determinations of average molecular weight between the cros s-links and also a polymer-solvent interaction parameter have been exe mplified. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.