Development of nonaqueous polymer gels that exhibit broad temperature performance

While significant work has focused on aqueous hydrogels for biotechnology applications, hydrogels suffer from a limited operating temperature range due to the moderate freezing point and high volatility of water. In this work, a nonaqueous, chemically cross-linked polybutadiene gel has been designed which exhibits stable properties over a temperature range of −60–70°C. A combination of rheology, neutron scattering, and tack adhesion testing was utilized to characterize the gel properties. The methodology employed to design the polybutadiene gel can be generalized to a variety of gel materials and applications.