CC BY 4.0 · Organic Materials 2024; 06(01): 1-11
DOI: 10.1055/a-2228-4757
Original Article

Polyampholyte Hydrogels with pH-Dependent Swelling for Controlled Catch and Release of Model Dyes

a   Institute of Organic Chemistry and Macromolecular Chemistry, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Humboldtstrasse 10, 07743 Jena, Germany
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a   Institute of Organic Chemistry and Macromolecular Chemistry, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Humboldtstrasse 10, 07743 Jena, Germany
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a   Institute of Organic Chemistry and Macromolecular Chemistry, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Humboldtstrasse 10, 07743 Jena, Germany
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a   Institute of Organic Chemistry and Macromolecular Chemistry, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Humboldtstrasse 10, 07743 Jena, Germany
b   Jena Center for Soft Matter (JCSM), Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Philosophenweg 7, 07743 Jena, Germany
c   Center for Energy and Environmental Chemistry Jena (CEEC), Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Philosophenweg 7a, 07743 Jena, Germany
d   Cluster of Excellence Balance of the Microverse, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Grüne Aue, 07754 Jena, Germany
› Author Affiliations


Abstract

Polyampholyte hydrogels with tunable charge are synthesized by a facile two-step approach including the free-radical crosslinking copolymerization of tert-butoxycarbonylaminomethylacrylate (tBAMA) with N,N′-methylenebisacrylamide and subsequent deprotection. Thermal, photo- and redox-initiating methods were utilized in the synthesis of crosslinked PtBAMA and the resulting polymer networks swell during deprotection in a mixture of trifluoro acetic acid/water. While the crosslinked PtBAMA forms organogels in various organic solvents such as chloroform, acetone and DMSO, polydehydroalanine (PDha) networks after deprotection form hydrogels with pH-dependent swelling and oscillatory swelling/deswelling depending on pH value and salinity. The tunable charge of the developed hydrogels was employed for a catch-and-release platform controlled by pH, in which methylene blue as a cationic model was adsorbed at pH 11 and desorbed at pH 2, whereas methyl blue as an anionic model dye was adsorbed at pH 2 and desorbed at pH 11.



Publication History

Received: 17 November 2023

Accepted after revision: 11 December 2023

Accepted Manuscript online:
13 December 2023

Article published online:
30 January 2024

© 2024. The Authors. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, permitting unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction so long as the original work is properly cited. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

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