Swelling Behavior of Novel Hydrogels Produced from Glucose-Based Ionic Monomers with Varying Cross-Linkers

This work presents the synthesis of glucose-based vinyl imidazolium monomers and the hydrogels produced thereof. These novel semisynthetic, cationic hydrogels were prepared by radical polymerization with different types of commercial cross-linkers such as N,N′-methylenebis(acrylamide) or poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate. Both the type and the amount of cross-linker were investigated as influencing factors with respect to the swelling degree. It was found that the cross-linker type majorly influences the swelling degree and long-term stability of the hydrogels. Last, the influence of different anions (e.g., halogens, acetate, and triflate) in the monomer molecule on the swelling properties of the hydrogels was investigated.