ABSTRACT

Polymer gels are important class of materials and have wide range of applications in controlled drug delivery, biomedical, absorbents, bioseparations, robotics, soft actuators, artificial muscles, intelligent sponges etc. These gels are attracting increasing attention lately due to their great potential as smart/intelligent materials. Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy has emerged as a powerful tool study these gels. In our laboratory, we have worked on the design and development of novel thermoreversible gels and explained their Lower critical Solution Temperature (LCST) phenomenon by using modified Lattice Fluid Hydrogen Bond (LFHB) theory. The solid-state NMR spectroscopy has been used to study volume transitions, hydration, state of the water, self-diffusion coefficient and relaxation in gels. The NMR response of a viscous poly(acrylamide) fluid to the application of shear field has been studied by Rheo-NMR technique. Some of these aspects of gels will be discussed in the seminar.