Polyacrylamide hydrogels: synthesis, characterization and influence of the pore size and morphology in the process of separation of macromolecules

Many applications of hydrogel polymers require accurate and reproducible control over the architecture of the pore network, however rough estimations of the average pore size are typically the only tool available to guide the selection of gels with excellent properties. Accordingly, the present research is divided into three stages: The first stage aims to synthesize polyacrylamide hydrogel particles using two polymerization systems, the photoinitiated polymerization and the emulsifier-free emulsion polymerization or precipitation. This synthesis will adopt some conditions and parameters required for both control pore size desired as the homogeneous and narrow distribution. In the second stage characterization methodologies suitable for the study of such particles will be used to understand the structure and morphology of pores, as well as their distribution, so that we use three analytical techniques mainly: transmission electron microscopy (TEM), the thermoporometry and dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA). Other techniques are also employed to validate results (AFM NMR, DSC, etc.). And the last stage will be to evaluate the functionality of the hydrogel in the separation of macromolecules through techniques of capillary gel electrophoresis (CGE) and gel permeation chromatography (GPC), both techniques allow to evaluate the efficiency of the hydrogel in separating macromolecules. This research also proposes the involvement of several research groups from different academic disciplines, as are biology, pharmacy and engineering, in addition to different experiences of international research groups, such as the case of the group of the department of chemical engineering at Tennessee Technological University, USA, who will be collaborating in this research. Thus, the project aims to generate multidisciplinary activities in order to exchange experiences and enrichment of the research proposal, this fact is possible too through the proposal of stayed for a period of 12 months at Tennessee Technological University, which aims to generate future exchanges between undergraduate and postgraduate students of both universities. (AU)