3D Printing of Polyelectrolyte Complex-Integrated Photocurable Hydrogel Resins

Jinchul Yang; Yangyang Wang; Polyxeni P. Angelopoulou; Jong Keum; Jinyoung Park; Jihua Chen; Rigoberto C. Advincula

doi:10.1021/acsapm.5c03018

3D Printing of Polyelectrolyte Complex-Integrated Photocurable Hydrogel Resins

Jinchul Yang
, Yangyang Wang
, Polyxeni P. Angelopoulou
, Jong Keum
, Jinyoung Park
, Jihua Chen
, Rigoberto C. Advincula

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

In this study, we developed a photocurable hydrogel resin incorporating a polyelectrolyte complex (PEC) for 3D printing. Acrylamide-based monomers were formulated with varying PEC contents (0–15 wt %) in an aqueous KBr medium to fabricate patterned porous hydrogel structures. The morphology of printed hydrogels was characterized by field-emission scanning electron microscopy and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. Notably, the PEC5 and PEC10 formulations exhibited optimal thermal stability and compressive properties, attributed to the homogeneous distribution of PEC domains within the hydrogel matrix. Furthermore, dye adsorption experiments demonstrated excellent removal efficiency, highlighting the potential of PEC-containing hydrogels for environmental remediation applications, particularly in the treatment of dye-contaminated wastewater.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	15917-15927
Number of pages	11
Journal	ACS Applied Polymer Materials
Volume	7
Issue number	23
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1021/acsapm.5c03018
State	Published - Dec 12 2025

Funding

J.Y. was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF), funded by the Ministry of Education, Republic of Korea (Grant No. RS-2024-00406064). J.C., Y.W., and R.C.A. acknowledge support of their effort from the U.S. Department of Energy, Basic Energy Science user facilities program, the Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences (CNMS). Rheological, Thermal characterization, and Microscopy were performed at the Center for CNMS, which is a US Department of Energy, Office of Science User Facility at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

Keywords

3D printing
digital light processing
dye removal
hydrogel
masked stereolithography apparatus
polyelectrolyte

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10.1021/acsapm.5c03018

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title = "3D Printing of Polyelectrolyte Complex-Integrated Photocurable Hydrogel Resins",

abstract = "In this study, we developed a photocurable hydrogel resin incorporating a polyelectrolyte complex (PEC) for 3D printing. Acrylamide-based monomers were formulated with varying PEC contents (0–15 wt \%) in an aqueous KBr medium to fabricate patterned porous hydrogel structures. The morphology of printed hydrogels was characterized by field-emission scanning electron microscopy and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. Notably, the PEC5 and PEC10 formulations exhibited optimal thermal stability and compressive properties, attributed to the homogeneous distribution of PEC domains within the hydrogel matrix. Furthermore, dye adsorption experiments demonstrated excellent removal efficiency, highlighting the potential of PEC-containing hydrogels for environmental remediation applications, particularly in the treatment of dye-contaminated wastewater.",

keywords = "3D printing, digital light processing, dye removal, hydrogel, masked stereolithography apparatus, polyelectrolyte",

author = "Jinchul Yang and Yangyang Wang and Angelopoulou, \{Polyxeni P.\} and Jong Keum and Jinyoung Park and Jihua Chen and Advincula, \{Rigoberto C.\}",

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AU - Yang, Jinchul

AU - Wang, Yangyang

AU - Angelopoulou, Polyxeni P.

AU - Keum, Jong

AU - Park, Jinyoung

AU - Chen, Jihua

AU - Advincula, Rigoberto C.

PY - 2025/12/12

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AB - In this study, we developed a photocurable hydrogel resin incorporating a polyelectrolyte complex (PEC) for 3D printing. Acrylamide-based monomers were formulated with varying PEC contents (0–15 wt %) in an aqueous KBr medium to fabricate patterned porous hydrogel structures. The morphology of printed hydrogels was characterized by field-emission scanning electron microscopy and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. Notably, the PEC5 and PEC10 formulations exhibited optimal thermal stability and compressive properties, attributed to the homogeneous distribution of PEC domains within the hydrogel matrix. Furthermore, dye adsorption experiments demonstrated excellent removal efficiency, highlighting the potential of PEC-containing hydrogels for environmental remediation applications, particularly in the treatment of dye-contaminated wastewater.

KW - 3D printing

KW - digital light processing

KW - dye removal

KW - hydrogel

KW - masked stereolithography apparatus

KW - polyelectrolyte

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JO - ACS Applied Polymer Materials

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ER -

3D Printing of Polyelectrolyte Complex-Integrated Photocurable Hydrogel Resins

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