Institute of Solid State Physics


SS22WS22SS23WS23SS24WS24      Guidelines for Master Students

Fabrication of thermo-responsive hydrogel multilayers via initiated Chemical Vapor Deposition
Paul Kindlhofer
11:15 - 12:15 Wednesday 25 March 2020 PH01150

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Thermo-responsive hydrogels are materials that absorb water, increasing their thickness considerably, depending on the temperature. They have attracted much attention in the past, due to their biocompatibility, as well as their versatile applications in different fields like drug delivery, tissue engineering, as actuators for micromechanical systems and for sensor systems.

The aim of this master thesis is the fabrication of thermo-responsive hydrogel multilayers, which will be used as a temperature sensor for artificial skin (both for robots and humans). In humid environment, the hydrophilic polymer chains of the hydrogel bind with water molecules and therefore swell up to a multitude of its dry size. Additional to the response on humidity, the used hydrogels undergo a temperature-induced phase transition at the so called lower critical solution temperature (LCST). At temperatures below the LCST, the hydrogel is in a swollen state, but after reaching the LCST, a switch from hydrophilicity to hydrophobicity occurs, thus the hydrogel releases a large amount of water and shrinks. By overlapping hydrogel layers with different LCSTs, a multilayer with response in multiple ranges of temperature and humidity can be obtained.