Effect of Void Structure on the Toughness of Double Network Hydrogels

Introduction of soft filler in a hard body, which is one of the common toughening methods of hard polymeric materials, was applied for further toughening of robust double network (DN) hydrogels composed of poly(2-acrylamido-2-methylpropanesulfonic acid) gels (PAMPS gels) as the first component and polyacrylamide (PAAm) as the second component. The fracture energy of the DN gels with the void structure (called void-DN gels) became twice when the volume fraction of void was 1-3 vol % and the void diameter was much larger than the Flory radius of the PAAm chains. Such toughening was induced by wider range of internal fracture of the PAMPS network derived from partial stress concentration near void structure. Considering the mechanical tests and the dynamic light scattering results, it is implied that the absence of the load-bearing PAAm structure inside the void is important for the toughening. (C) 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 49: 1246-1254, 2011