Synthesis And Evaluation Of Swelling Characteristics Of Fullerene (C60) Containing Cross-linked Poly(2-hydroxyethyl Methacrylate) Hydrogels

Fullerene containing cross-linked poly (2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate) polymers (CFPH) with varying C60 content were synthesized by free radical polymerization. The fullerene content in the cross-linked polymers was determined by TGA analysis. The swelling properties of these fullerene containing hydrogels (CFPH) were studied in distilled water (pH=7.2) at room temperature (25 o C) and compared to the corresponding hydrogel without fullerene (CPHEMA). The equilibrium swelling ratio is lower for the fullerene containing hydrogels (54.68% and 40.0% for hydrogels having 6.0 wt% and 18.0 wt% fullerene respectively) due to the presence of hydrophobic fullerene moieties inside the hydrogels than that of the hydrogel (68.75%) without fullerene. The hydrophobic fullerene nanomaterials acting as inherent nanofillers obstruct the path of water permeation inside the polymers thereby taking more time to achieve equilibrium swelling for fullerene containing hydrogels than that of the hydrogel without