Viscoelastic characterization of HEMA-DMHA hydrogels.

The goal of this project is determination of viscoelastic properties (creep, relaxation, and dissipation) of biodegradable HEMA-based (hydroxyethyl methacrylate) hydrogels. The viscoelastic characterization will be done under compression as well as shear (rheology). HEMA hydrogels are hydrophobic biocompatible hydrogels with high mechanical and viscoelastic properties. The mechanical properties and permeability of these hydrogels can be tuned by controlling the water concentration and cross-linker during polymerisation. The hydrogels will be polymerized via one step UV polymerization. The proposed hydrogels are developing for drug delivery applications. In the next step the characterization of the mesh size of the hydrogels and swelling properties is demanded. This project provides comprehensive experimental work in characterization of hydrogels for biomedical applications.