pH-dependent swelling and solute diffusion characteristics of poly(hydroxyethyl methacrylate-co-methacrylic acid) hydrogels.

Poly(hydroxyethyl methacrylate-co-methacrylic acid) hydrogels can swell extensively in a high-pH medium where the carboxyl groups are ionized. The swelling equilibrium is a strong function of the methacrylic acid composition of the polymer and pH of the medium. The nonionized gel structure was found to be rather insensitive to the amount of cross-linker, tetraethylene glycol dimethacrylate (TEGDMA), incorporated, within the range of 0.5 to 3%. This result is supportive of the existence of secondary interactions that shield the effect of covalent cross-links. Phenylpropanolamine (PPA) was used as a probe solute to study the diffusion characteristics of the poly(HEMA-co-MA) gels. Its diffusion coefficient in the swollen matrices of different methacrylic acid compositions at various pH's was measured via a desorption method. It is evident that these diffusion coefficients follow Yasuda's free volume theory, which expresses an exponential relationship between the solute diffusivity in a swollen polymer membrane and the reciprocal of the membrane hydration. Although interactions exist between PPA and the hydrogel matrix, these interactions are not significant enough to perturb the free volume relationship established. This observation can be explained by the high ionic strength of the system.