Example 1
Materials: Acrylamide (AAm) and 2-hydroxy-4′-(2-hydroxyethoxy)-2-methyl propiophenone (12959) purchased from J&K. N,N′-bis(acryloyl) cystamine (BISAC) purchased from Alfa Aesar. Ammonium persulfate and N,N,N′,N′-tetramethylethylenediamine purchased from Sinopharm.
Preparation: 500 mg Acrylamide and 5 mg N,N′-bis(acryloyl) cystamine were dissolved in 5 ml deionized water. After fully dissolved, 100 μL ammonium persulfate and 10 μL N,N,N′,N′-tetramethylethylenediamine were added into the solution. The solution was transferred to a sealed glass vessel quickly. 24 hour later, the resulting gel was immersed in a solution which contains the 2-hydroxy-4′-(2-hydroxyethoxy)-2-methyl propiophenone (photo-catalyst) for 24 h. The gel was frozen by a cooling stage. Under the freezing condition, the gel was exposed by UV irradiation integrally for 5 min. After thawing, the gel swelled in the deionized water to obtain porous gels. The laser scanning confocal microscope was applied to characterize the pore structure of the obtained gel.