Tailored made fabrication of flexible dendrimer-hydrogel composites with physical cross-linking and study of swelling behaviour

Dendrimer-hydrogel (DEN-H) composites is one of leading concept as they combine the unique, highly-defined architecture of dendrimers with the soft, water-swollen network of hydrogels, resulting in multifunctional materials with superior mechanical properties, tunable functionality, and enhanced performance in biomedical and material science applications. We report the novel fabrication of flexible poly(acrylamide-co-acrylic acid) [poly(AM-co-AA)] dendrimer-hydrogel (DEN-H) composites prepared via physical cross-linking. These materials possess excellent mechanical properties, such as high tensile strength and hardness. Hydrogen bonding interactions between the embedded dendrimer (DEN) and the copolymer matrix facilitate the softening of the DEN-H composite. The precursor was thoroughly characterized using FTIR, NMR, LCMS, and TGA. FTIR analysis confirmed the formation of the prepared DEN-H composites, while TGA was used to study their thermal behavior. We also investigated the materials’ swelling properties, including swelling ratio, equilibrium water content (EWC), and the influence of pH on the swelling characteristics.