Hybrid, elastomeric hydrogels crosslinked by multifunctional block copolymer micelles

Amphiphilic block copolymers consisting of hydrophilic, poly(acrylic acid) randomly decorated with acrylate groups and hydrophobic, rubbery poly(n-butyl acrylate) self-assembled into well-defined micelles with an average diameter of similar to 21 nm. Radical polymerization of acrylamide in the presence of the crosslinkable micelles gave rise to hybrid, elastomeric hydrogels whose mechanical properties can be readily tuned by varying the BCM concentration.