Hybrid, elastomeric hydrogels crosslinked by multifunctional block copolymer micellesElectronic supplementary information (ESI) available: synthesis of block copolymers and the hybrid hydrogels and characterization of block copolymer micelles and micelle crosslinked networks. See DOI: 10.1039/c0sm00511h

Amphiphilic block copolymers consisting of hydrophilic, poly(acrylic acid) randomly decorated with acrylategroups and hydrophobic, rubbery poly( n -butyl acrylate) self-assembled into well-defined micelles with an average diameter of ∼21 nm. Radical polymerization of acrylamide in the presence of the crosslinkable micelles gave rise to hybrid, elastomeric hydrogels whose mechanical properties can be readily tuned by varying the BCM concentration. Hybrid, elastomeric hydrogels were synthesized via the covalent crosslinking of acrylamide with self-assembled block copolymer micelles that exhibit a dynamic, hydrophobic core composed of poly( n -butyl acrylate) (P n BA), and a hydrated shell derived from poly(acrylic acid) (PAA).