Abstract
Inkjet printing of alternate layers of anionic and cationic polyelectrolytes allows organized gels to form with structures similar to those made by layer—by-layer dipping methods but very much faster. Structures of gels formed using slow and fast inkjet printing systems are compared using elemental analysis, swelling and diffusion kinetics as characterization methods. After printing and washing, most sodium or chloride counter-ions are last from the gel, leave only the polymer complex. The swelling properties of the printed and washed gel depend on the deposition rate and on the ratio of the two polymers as originally printed. The synthetic polyelectrolytes reported here can be compared with biological polyelectrolytes reported earlier by us.
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Acknowledgments
The authors wish To thank the Australian Research Council (ARC). ARC Federation Fellowship (G. Wallace). ARC Future Fellowship (M. in het Panhuis). ARC Linkage International Fellowship (P. Calvert) and the University of Wollongong for their generous support. The research earned out at UMassD was supported by the National Textile Center and by the NIH through the Tissue Engineering Resource Center at Tufts University.
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Calvert, P., Limem, S., McCallum, D. et al. Self-Assembled Gels from Biological and Synthetic Polyelectrolytes.. MRS Online Proceedings Library 1418, 51–56 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1557/opl.2012.857
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1557/opl.2012.857