1. Tunable stress relaxation behavior of an alginate-polyacrylamide hydrogel: comparison with muscle tissue.
- Author
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Fitzgerald MM, Bootsma K, Berberich JA, and Sparks JL
- Subjects
- Acrylic Resins pharmacology, Alginates pharmacology, Animals, Biocompatible Materials pharmacology, Glucuronic Acid chemistry, Glucuronic Acid pharmacology, Hexuronic Acids chemistry, Hexuronic Acids pharmacology, Hydrogel, Polyethylene Glycol Dimethacrylate chemistry, Hydrogel, Polyethylene Glycol Dimethacrylate pharmacology, Stress, Physiological drug effects, Swine, Acrylic Resins chemistry, Alginates chemistry, Elastic Modulus drug effects, Muscle Relaxation drug effects
- Abstract
Factors controlling the time-dependent mechanical properties of interpenetrating network (IPN) hydrogel materials are not well understood. In this study, alginate-polyacrylamide IPN were synthesized to mimic the stress relaxation behavior and elastic modulus of porcine muscle tissue. Hydrogel samples were created with single-parameter chemical concentration variations from a baseline formula to establish trends. The concentration of total monomer material had the largest effect on the elastic modulus, while concentration of the acrylamide cross-linker, N,N-methylenebis(acrylamide) (MBAA), changed the stress relaxation behavior most effectively. The IPN material was then tuned to mimic the mechanical response of muscle tissue using these trends. Swelling the hydrogel samples to equilibrium resulted in a dramatic decrease in both elastic modulus and stress relaxation behavior. Collectively, the results demonstrate that alginate-polyacrylamide IPN hydrogels can be tuned to closely mimic both the elastic and the viscoelastic behaviors of muscle tissue, although swelling detrimentally affects these desired properties.
- Published
- 2015
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