Synthesis of poly(2-(2-methoxyethoxy)ethyl methacrylate) hydrogel using starch-based nanosphere cross-linkers

• Starch-based nanospheres crosslinked hydrogel are fabricate.
• The hydrogels exhibit a narrow LCST gap.
• The hydrogels exhibit a high mechanical strength.
• The properties of the hydrogels can regulate by nanosphere concentrations.
• The hydrogels are degradable in aqueous medium.

Biodegradable thermosensitive hydrogels have attracted great interest because of their potential in biomedical applications. Herein, we present a novel, thermoresponsive poly(2-(2-methoxyethoxy)ethyl methacrylate) hydrogels with starch-based nanospheres as cross-linkers (NMH). NMHs exhibit a narrow lower critical phase transition temperature (LCST) range and high mechanical strength compared with conventional, small molecular cross-linked hydrogels (CMH). Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy confirms that the NMHs are degradable in aqueous medium. The phase transition temperature of the NMHs is ∼4 °C compared with ∼25 °C for CMH. The NMHs can sustain strength of 12.2 MPa, 10 times more than that of CMH. Moreover, the deswelling rate of NMHs is faster than CMH. The different concentrations of nanospheres can efficiently regulate the various properties of NMHs. The NMHs have excellent properties because of its even network structure formed by nanosphere cross-linkers.