N n methylenebisacrylamide mbaa

As an IL, 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoro-methylsulfonyl)imide ([C₄mim][Tf₂N]) (Sigma-Aldrich Co., St. Louis, MO, U.S.A.) was used after eliminating the dissolved water by bubbling dry nitrogen through the IL for more than 15 min. N,N-dimethylacrylamide (DMAAm, Tokyo Chemical Industry Co., Tokyo, Japan) as a monomer of PDMAAm, 2-oxoglutaric acid (OA, Tokyo Chemical Industry Co.) as a photo radical initiator, and N,N′-methylenebis(acrylamide) (MBAA, FUJIFILM Wako Pure Chemicals Corporation, Osaka, Japan) as a chemical cross-linker of PDMAAm were used to form an organic PDMAAm network in the IL. DMAAm and OA were used as received. MBAA was used after purification by recrystallization in ethanol. Tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS, Sigma-Aldrich Co.) was used to form the silica particle without further purification. Formic acid (FUJIFILM Wako Pure Chemicals Corporation) was used as a solvolytic agent for the sol–gel reaction of TEOS without further purification.

Dodecylglyceryl itaconate (DGI) as an amphiphilic
monomer was synthesized from scratch as described elsewhere.^{6 (link)} The crude product was purified by silica gel
column chromatography with a mixture of hexane and ethyl acetate as
the eluant (1:1 by volume). The obtained product was further recrystallized
twice from an acetone/hexane mixture (1:1 by weight). Acrylamide (AAm)
(Wako) as the monomer was recrystallized from chloroform and N,N′-methylenebisacrylamide (MBAA)
(Wako) as the crosslinker was recrystallized from ethanol. Irgacure
2959 (Wako) as the initiator and SDS (Wako), sodium stearate (SST)
(Wako), dodecyltriethylamine chloride (DTAC) (Wako), N-butylamine
(NBA) (Wako) as co-surfactants were used as received. MilliQ water
was used to prepare the precursor solutions and swell the hydrogels.
Paraffin oil (Wako) was used to preserve the hydrogels at the prepared
state in order to prevent any swelling or dehydration.