Preparation and solution properties of microhydrogels from poly(vinyl alcohol)

Microgels were synthesized by intramolecular crosslinking of poly(vinyl alcohol) single chains with glutaraldehyde in dilute aqueous solutions (concentration c = 0,1 g/100 mL). The degree of crosslinking was varied from X = 0 to X = 150 (X is the number of crosslinker molecules per chain). The reaction products were characterized by static and dynamic light scattering and viscosity measurements. A clear shrinking of molecular dimensions could be observed with increasing degree of crosslinking, since the radius of gyration Rg, and with that, the p‐parameter (p = Rg/Rh) decrease with the number of intramolecular crosslinks. A similar behavior is seen from viscosity measurements. The intrinsic viscosity [η] decreases with increasing X‐parameter and depends only very weakly on the temperature which is an indication of a loss in flexibility and therefore for a relatively fixed structure.