Effects of temperature and surfactants on the equilibrium swelling behavior of poly[acrylamide-co-(itaconic acid)] hydrogels

This swelling equilibrium of poly(acrylamide) [PAAm] and poly[acrylamide-co-(itaconic acid)] [P(AAm/IA)] hydrogels was studied as a function of tempeture amd IA content in aqueous solutions of surfacants sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS, anionic) and hexadecyltrimethylamin water exhibited reentrant conformational transitions depending on temperature, whereas PAAm hydrogels were not afffected with the change of temperature. The equilibrium volume-sweling ratio of P(AAm/IA) hydrogels increased sharply in SDS solutions with an increase of the mole percent of IA. However, in HTAB solution, the equilibrium-volume swelling ratio of the hydrogels decreased with an increase of IA content.