Nanocomposites and nanomaterials 

Synthesis and properties of hydrogels filled with dispersed nanoparticles
Nosova N.G.1, Fihurka N.V.1, Maikovych O.V. 1,Musyanovych A.V.2, Varvarenko S.M.1, Samaryk V.Ya. 1, Voronov S.A.1
1 Lviv Polytechnic National University 
S.Bandera Str., 12, Lviv-79013, Ukraine
E-mail: nnosova2121@gmail.com
2 Fraunhofer ICT-IMM
Carl-Zeiss-Str. 18-20, 55129 Mainz, Germany

Creation of polymeric materials, which under the influence of external factors (temperature, pH, the presence of glucose, etc.) can change their characteristics, is an urgent task. Exploitation of such material as a basis for sensors, cause the change of its external macrocharacteristics: electrical conductivity, dielectric constant, refractive index, light scattering. Hydrogels meet these requirements. Changing the influence of the external factor lead to the collapse of the hydrogel, increases or decreases the rate of its swelling. 
The paper represents the results of composite systems creation based on hydrogels, filled with dispersed polystyrene nanoparticles. Due to their properties, they can be used as the basis for sensors that determine the level of glucose in human blood when treating diabetes. The formation of the polymeric framework of the hydrogel occurred because of balanced number of cross-linkings between polyacrylamide and poly-N-hydroxymethylacrylamide modified with 3-aminobenzeneboronic acid. Besides, the complex studies of the properties change of the obtained materials were carried out. Established that changing the size and quantity of polystyrene particles in a hydrogel make it possible to provide optimal values of its optical parameters.
It was shown that synthesized hydrogels filled with dispersed nanoparticles were very sensitive to small changes of glucose concentration, therefore, they are very promising materials for sensors.