EL SECADO DE PUNTO CRÍTICO (SPC) COMO TÉCNICA APLICADA EN LA PREPARACIÓN DE GELES DE POLI(ACRILAMIDA-CO-ÁCIDO ACRÍLICO) POR MICROSCOPÍA ELECTRÓNICA DE BARRIDO

Abstract

In this paper, the technical parameters of the critical point drying (CPD) as a tool for scanning electron microscopy (SEM) to observe the hydrogel morphology is presented. The hydrogel processing in the SPC transforms into aerogels, three dimensional networks in the dry state, which maintain the pore size than when they were hydrated. The morphologies of the gels analyzed, revealed that the technique used for the hydrogels was appropriate to establish significant differences effect produced by the synthesis in the pore size, as reflected in the histograms obtained from SEM micrographs.