A Comparative Dynamics Analysis of Agar- Polyacrylamide Double Network Hydrogel with its Associated Single Network Hydrogels

Abstract

A mixed agar-polyacrylamide (Ag-PAAM) double network (DN) hydrogel was synthesized using one-pot heatingcooling photo-polymerization method along with its corresponding single network (SN) hydrogels of agar and PAAM. The agar hydrogel was prepared by simply heating followed by cooling it to room temperature, whereas the PAM hydrogel was made with the help of photo-polymerization. Light scattering experiments were performed on the prepared hydrogels to examine and compare their structure and dynamics. Being non-ergodic in nature, direct ensemble average approach was used to analyse the correlation data. Both the DN along with the SN hydrogels shows bimodal relaxation. The magnitude of both the fast and slow mode relaxation time is the maximum for the double network hydrogel of agar-PAAM as compared to the individually prepared single network hydrogel of either agar or PAAM.