PMID- 27455167 OWN - NLM STAT- PubMed-not-MEDLINE DCOM- 20180411 LR - 20180411 IS - 1520-5207 (Electronic) IS - 1520-5207 (Linking) VI - 120 IP - 32 DP - 2016 Aug 18 TI - Thermally Reversible Physically Cross-Linked Hybrid Network Hydrogels Formed by Thermosensitive Hairy Nanoparticles. PG - 8036-45 LID - 10.1021/acs.jpcb.6b06009 [doi] AB - This Article reports on thermally induced reversible formation of physically cross-linked, three-dimensional network hydrogels from aqueous dispersions of thermosensitive diblock copolymer brush-grafted silica nanoparticles (hairy NPs). The hairy NPs consisted of a silica core, a water-soluble polyelectrolyte inner block of poly(2-(methacryloyloxy)ethyltrimethylammonium iodide), and a thermosensitive poly(methoxydi(ethylene glycol) methacrylate) (PDEGMMA) outer block synthesized by sequential surface-initiated atom transfer radical polymerizations and postpolymerization quaternization of tertiary amine moieties. Moderately concentrated dispersions of these hairy nanoparticles in water underwent thermally induced reversible transitions between flowing liquids to self-supporting gels upon heating. The gelation was driven by the lower critical solution temperature (LCST) transition of the PDEGMMA outer block, which upon heating self-associated into hydrophobic domains acting as physical cross-linking points for the gel network. Rheological studies showed that the sol-gel transition temperature decreased with increasing hairy NP concentration, and the gelation was achieved at concentrations as low as 3 wt %. FAU - Wright, Roger A E AU - Wright RA AD - Department of Chemistry, University of Tennessee , Knoxville, Tennessee 37996, United States. FAU - Henn, Daniel M AU - Henn DM AD - Department of Chemistry, University of Tennessee , Knoxville, Tennessee 37996, United States. FAU - Zhao, Bin AU - Zhao B AD - Department of Chemistry, University of Tennessee , Knoxville, Tennessee 37996, United States. LA - eng PT - Journal Article PT - Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S. DEP - 20160804 PL - United States TA - J Phys Chem B JT - The journal of physical chemistry. B JID - 101157530 EDAT- 2016/07/28 06:00 MHDA- 2016/07/28 06:01 CRDT- 2016/07/26 06:00 PHST- 2016/07/26 06:00 [entrez] PHST- 2016/07/28 06:00 [pubmed] PHST- 2016/07/28 06:01 [medline] AID - 10.1021/acs.jpcb.6b06009 [doi] PST - ppublish SO - J Phys Chem B. 2016 Aug 18;120(32):8036-45. doi: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.6b06009. Epub 2016 Aug 4.