Microstructure of polymer hydrogels studied by pulsed field gradient NMR diffusion and TEM methods

The microstructure of various alginate gels have been studied by pulsed field gradient NMR (PFG NMR) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The reduced diffusivity of dendrimer diffusion within the gels has been obtained from PFG NMR diffusion experiments. The polymer strand radius, an important microstructural property, has been extracted from various diffusion models. The results agree well with the polymer strand radii obtained from image analysis of the corresponding TEM micrographs.