Experimental Design for the Synthesis of Polyacrylamide Superporous Hydrogels

Abstract

An experimental design, based on L-18 Taguchi matrix, was used to examine the influence of formulation ingredients on a variety of aspects of gel formation during the synthesis of polyacrylamide hydrogels. Although a vast variety of formulations could lead to reasonable hydrogel networks, attempts were made to design a basic formulation that could be used to generate strong and elastic superporous hydrogels. The final properties of the hydrogels, especially when prepared in the presence of atmospheric oxygen, depended on events during their gel formation. Gelation features, including inhibition period, exothermic period and temperature increases, observed during the gelation, are dependent on the type and concentration of ingredients within the preparatory formulation. For this study, seven variables were chosen and their effects were examined within the frame of a L-18 Taguchi matrix. The parameters examined were inhibition period, exothermic period, maximum temperature due to exothermic reaction, and solubility feature along with the physical appearance at gelation point.