Slightly crosslinked poly(N-vinylcaprolactam) gels as the media for growth of copper(II) sulfate pentahydrate crystals

The behavior of slightly crosslinked poly(N-vinylcaprolactam) (PVCa) gels in a CuSO4 solution in water and ethanol was studied. The investigation was carried out for PVCa gels with polymer contents of 4% and 7%. The effective absorption of CuSO4 by PVCa hydrogel accompanied by gel shrinking was observed for the CuSO4 aqueous solution. It was shown that dendrite crystals of CuSO(4)5H(2)O localized within the gel sample are obtained after placement of gels samples into ethanol. The crystal habit depends on gel concentration. It was found that slightly crosslinked PVCa gels are promising as media for the growth of crystals. (C) 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.