Fabrication of fast responsive, thermosensitive poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) hydrogels by using diethyl ether as precipitation agent.

An effective strategy was developed and demonstrated to improve the properties of thermosensitive poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAAm) hydrogel by using diethyl ether as a precipitation agent during the polymerization/crosslinking. Results reveal that the modified PNIPAAm hydrogels have the heterogeneous network structures and decreased LCSTs in a comparison with the normal PNIPAAm hydrogel. The modified PNIPAAm hydrogels also exhibit significantly improved sensitive properties, including fast response and stable, rapid, large magnitude oscillatory shrinking-swelling upon temperature cycles around lower critical solution temperature. In addition, fish DNA, used as a model drug, is loaded into the modified PNIPAAm hydrogels, the controlled release behaviors of the drug loaded hydrogels at different temperatures (22 and 37 degrees C) are further examined.