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.
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.