Synthesis and Characterization of Water-Soluble POSS Hybrid Inorganic/Organic PDMAEMA Nanocomposite Hydrogels

A novel POSS hybrid nanocomposite hydrogel was designed and synthesized by introducing water-soluble Oa-POSS into the PDMAEMA hydrogels physically cross-linked by clay. The prepared OaP-NC gels exhibited obvious temperature and pH double responsiveness while the properties and structure of gels depended on the content of added Oa-POSS. The swelling ratio of OaP-NC gels decreased slightly and the deswelling rate raised gradually with the increase of Oa-POSS. Moreover, the tensile strength and resilience of OaP-NC gels was improved significantly. Interestingly, the swelling behavior of gels changed differentially in the drying/reswelling circulation process due to the rearrangement of particles in gels.