Smart hydrogels with ethylene glycol propylene glycol pendant chains

New hydrogels based on different oligo(alkylene glycol) methacrylate (OAGMA) with inverse thermoresponse and volume phase transition temperature (VPTT) were obtained and characterised in this paper. Synthesis was performed from monomer-solvent (OAGMA-water/ethanol) mixture by simultaneous radiation-induced polymerisation and crosslinking; three different OAGMA (EG(6)MA, EG(6)PG(3)MA, and PG(5)MA) were used. The main focus was made on PEG(6)PG(3)MA hydrogel based on ethylene glycol (EG) propylene glycol (PG) pendant chains with EG (6) and PG (3) block units, since in the case of POPGMA and POEGMA homopolymers (i.e. hydrogels with pure PG and EG pendant chains) the VPTTs were observed far below and far above the human body temperature, respectively. Characterisation of the hydrogels was performed by swelling, UV-Vis, FTIR, SEM, DSC and in vitro biocompatibility (cytocompatibility and haemolytic activity) investigations. Due to the possibility to combine VPTT close to human body temperature with good biocompatibility, new hydrogel based on EGPG block pendant chains showed promising potential for different biomedical applications.