Tuning the water intrinsic permeability of PEGDA hydrogel membranes by adding free PEG chains of varying molar masses

Fuente: arXiv
Enregistré dans:
Détails bibliographiques
Auteurs principaux: Eddine, Malak Alaa, Carvalho, Alain, Schmutz, M., Salez, Thomas, de Chateauneuf-Randon, Sixtine, Bresson, Bruno, Pantoustier, Nadège, Monteux, C., Belbekhouche, S.
Format: Preprint
Publié: 2024
Sujets:
Accès en ligne:
Tags: Ajouter un tag
Pas de tags, Soyez le premier à ajouter un tag!
_version_ 1866909220300914688
author Eddine, Malak Alaa
Carvalho, Alain
Schmutz, M.
Salez, Thomas
de Chateauneuf-Randon, Sixtine
Bresson, Bruno
Pantoustier, Nadège
Monteux, C.
Belbekhouche, S.
author_facet Eddine, Malak Alaa
Carvalho, Alain
Schmutz, M.
Salez, Thomas
de Chateauneuf-Randon, Sixtine
Bresson, Bruno
Pantoustier, Nadège
Monteux, C.
Belbekhouche, S.
contents We explore the effect of poly (ethylene glycol) (PEG) molar mass on the intrinsic permeability and structural characteristics of poly (ethylene glycol) diacrylate PEGDA/PEG composite hydrogel membranes. We observe that by varying the PEG content and molar mass, we can finely adjust the water intrinsic permeability over several orders of magnitude. Notably, we show the existence of a maximum water intrinsic permeability, already identified in a previous study to be located at the critical overlap concentration C^* of PEG chains, for the highest PEG molar mass studied. Furthermore, we note that the maximum intrinsic permeability follows a non-monotonic evolution with respect to the PEG molar mass and reaches its peak at 35 000 g.mol-1. Besides our results show that a significant fraction of PEG chains is irreversibly trapped within the PEGDA matrix even for the shortest molar masses down to 600 g.mol-1. This observation suggests the possibility of covalent grafting of PEG chains to the PEGDA matrix. CryoSEM and AFM measurements demonstrate the presence of large micron-sized cavities separated by PEGDA-rich walls whose nanometric structure strongly depends on the PEG content. By combining our permeability and structural measurements, we suggest that the PEG chains trapped inside the PEGDA rich walls induce nanoscale defects in the cross linking density, resulting in an increased permeability below C^*. Conversely, above C^*, we speculate that partially-trapped PEG chains may form a brush-like arrangement on the surface of the PEGDA-rich walls, leading to a reduction in permeability. These two opposing effects are anticipated to exhibit molar-mass-dependent trends, contributing to the non-monotonic variation of the maximum intrinsic permeability at C^*. Overall, our results demonstrate the potential to fine-tune the properties of hydrogel membranes, offering new opportunities in separation applications.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2406_06190
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Tuning the water intrinsic permeability of PEGDA hydrogel membranes by adding free PEG chains of varying molar masses
Eddine, Malak Alaa
Carvalho, Alain
Schmutz, M.
Salez, Thomas
de Chateauneuf-Randon, Sixtine
Bresson, Bruno
Pantoustier, Nadège
Monteux, C.
Belbekhouche, S.
Soft Condensed Matter
Chemical Physics
We explore the effect of poly (ethylene glycol) (PEG) molar mass on the intrinsic permeability and structural characteristics of poly (ethylene glycol) diacrylate PEGDA/PEG composite hydrogel membranes. We observe that by varying the PEG content and molar mass, we can finely adjust the water intrinsic permeability over several orders of magnitude. Notably, we show the existence of a maximum water intrinsic permeability, already identified in a previous study to be located at the critical overlap concentration C^* of PEG chains, for the highest PEG molar mass studied. Furthermore, we note that the maximum intrinsic permeability follows a non-monotonic evolution with respect to the PEG molar mass and reaches its peak at 35 000 g.mol-1. Besides our results show that a significant fraction of PEG chains is irreversibly trapped within the PEGDA matrix even for the shortest molar masses down to 600 g.mol-1. This observation suggests the possibility of covalent grafting of PEG chains to the PEGDA matrix. CryoSEM and AFM measurements demonstrate the presence of large micron-sized cavities separated by PEGDA-rich walls whose nanometric structure strongly depends on the PEG content. By combining our permeability and structural measurements, we suggest that the PEG chains trapped inside the PEGDA rich walls induce nanoscale defects in the cross linking density, resulting in an increased permeability below C^*. Conversely, above C^*, we speculate that partially-trapped PEG chains may form a brush-like arrangement on the surface of the PEGDA-rich walls, leading to a reduction in permeability. These two opposing effects are anticipated to exhibit molar-mass-dependent trends, contributing to the non-monotonic variation of the maximum intrinsic permeability at C^*. Overall, our results demonstrate the potential to fine-tune the properties of hydrogel membranes, offering new opportunities in separation applications.
title Tuning the water intrinsic permeability of PEGDA hydrogel membranes by adding free PEG chains of varying molar masses
topic Soft Condensed Matter
Chemical Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2406.06190