Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)-containing hydrogels prepared by micellar copolymerization in aqueous media

A novel polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)-containing hydrogel with tunable oxygen permeability was designed and prepared by the micellar copolymerization of the hydrophilic acrylamide monomer and hydrophobic PDMS-IPDI-HEMA macromonomer in aqueous media. The morphology, chemical composition and oxygen permeability (Dk) of the prepared hydrogel were investigated, and, importantly, its oxygen permeability was verified to be gradually increased with increasing the PDMS-IPDI-HEMA content. Therefore, this work opens up a new avenue to producing a class of hydrogels containing PDMS without the use of organic solvents by environmental friendly methods.