Electrically induced gel-sol transition of polyvinyl alcohol/polyacrylamide semi-interpenetrated hydrogels

Polyvinyl alcohol/polyacrylamide semi-interpenetrated hydrogels were prepared via freeze-thaw process. When a 20 V of DC was applied across the gels, the gels with lower polyacrylamide content underwent a contraction or partly turned into solution, while for the gels with higher polyacrylamide concentration, a complete gel-sol transition was observed in a short time.