Publication detail

Visualization of internal morphology of hydrogels based on polyvinyl alcohol in comparison with the indirect method of structural characterization

TRUDIČOVÁ, M. ZAHRÁDKA, J. MRÁZOVÁ, K. HRUBANOVÁ, K. SMILEK, J. SEDLÁČEK, P. PEKAŘ, M.

Original Title

Visualization of internal morphology of hydrogels based on polyvinyl alcohol in comparison with the indirect method of structural characterization

Type

abstract

Language

English

Original Abstract

The functionality of hydrogels, determining their potential use in a wide range of applications, is defined by a combination of their crucial material properties, such as swelling dynamics, elasticity, and mechanical strength. The essence of these properties guaranteeing hydrogels’ unique qualities is rooted in their structure. Therefore, the ability to analyze these parameters in high resolution plays a significant role in the optimization and control of the functionality of hydrogels. In general, possibilities to characterize hydrogels' internal architecture can be divided into two groups, indirect and direct methods. Indirect methods cannot provide information about appearance (e.g., pore shapes); however, they can present some information about internal architecture. Direct methods are convenient techniques since we can observe internal architecture, shape, and size of pores, etc. However, common and available methods (e.g., scanning electron microscopy – SEM) require samples in a dry state. That is undesirable since the process of dehydration commonly leads to an increased likelihood of creating structural artifacts and providing misleading information. Alternatively, atomic force microscopy (AFM) can be used to image the topography of soft biological materials in their native environments.

Keywords

hydrogel, structural analysis, SEM, cryo-SEM, AFM

Authors

TRUDIČOVÁ, M.; ZAHRÁDKA, J.; MRÁZOVÁ, K.; HRUBANOVÁ, K.; SMILEK, J.; SEDLÁČEK, P.; PEKAŘ, M.

Released

4. 9. 2022

Publisher

Czechoslovak Microscopy Society

Location

Brno

Pages from

402

Pages to

402

Pages count

1

BibTex

@misc{BUT179528,
  author="TRUDIČOVÁ, M. and ZAHRÁDKA, J. and MRÁZOVÁ, K. and HRUBANOVÁ, K. and SMILEK, J. and SEDLÁČEK, P. and PEKAŘ, M.",
  title="Visualization of internal morphology of hydrogels based on polyvinyl alcohol
in comparison with the indirect method of structural characterization",
  year="2022",
  pages="402--402",
  publisher="Czechoslovak Microscopy Society",
  address="Brno",
  note="abstract"
}