User:Allison K. Alix/Notebook/CHEM-581/2013/02/11

Error creating thumbnail: Unable to save thumbnail to destination Preparing Microgels Part II

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Objective Prepare smaller hydrogels using a similar procedure to the one used on 2/06/13 Description The nanogels prepared on 2/06/13 may be too small for our system. This being said, we are looking to devise another procedure using w/o emulsion that will make slightly larger hydrogels (~microscale) Procedures 1) Add 0.5g of PVOH (MW = 89,000-98,000 g/mol) to 6mL phosphate buffer solution 2) Heat at 100°C for ~15 minutes 3) Pour into 50mL mineral oil and homogenize on the lower setting (rpm unknown- unlisted) for 1 min 4) Place in freezer at -20°C for 20 hours. Thaw for 4 hours. Repeat this cycle for a total of 3 cycles. Observations -Size of hydrogels is still unknown, but we are hoping that using more PVOH/phosphate buffer solution and less mineral oil as well as homogenization at a lower speed will allow for the formation of larger hydrogels.