Mechanical properties of amphiphilic urethane acrylate ionomer hydrogels having heterophasic gel structure

Amphiphilic urethane acryale hydrogels containing ionic groups (dimethylolpropionic acid) were prepared by varying the molecular weight of the soft segment (polyether type) and the type of diisocyanate, and their mechanical properties were examined. They showed heterophasic gel structure composed of ionic hard domains induced by aggregation of the ionic groups and polyether soft domains comprising the urethane acrylate network. This heterophasic structure could be confirmed by dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) and by wide-angle X-ray scattering analysis (WAXS); the crystallinity detected by WAXS and the transition peak of the ionic hard domains detected by DMA strongly suggested that there were ionic aggregates. These ionic aggregates acted as reinforcing fillers in the network, which eventually enhanced the tensile strength of the hydrogels. Above all, the tensile properties of the hydrogels were of interest in that the trends of the stress-strain curves were consistent with the rubbery ones. It is believed that the higher purity of the polyether soft domains resulted from the heterophasic gel structure imparting further elastomeric properties on the network.