Polyhydroxyethylmethacrylate

"PHEMA" redirects here. For the Greek goddess, see Pheme.

Polyhydroxyethylmethacrylate

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Names
IUPAC name Poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate)
Other names PHEMA, Hydron
Identifiers
CAS Number	25249-16-5
PubChem	24898472
Properties
Chemical formula	(C6H10O3)n
Molar mass	variable
Vapor pressure	{{{value}}}
Except where otherwise noted, data are given for materials in their standard state (at 25 °C [77 °F], 100 kPa).
Infobox references

Poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate) (pHEMA) is a polymer that forms a hydrogel in water. Poly (hydroxyethyl methacrylate) (PHEMA) hydrogel for intraocular lens (IOL) materials was synthesized by solution polymerization using 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA) as raw material, ammonium persulfate and sodium pyrosulfite (APS/SMBS) as catalyst, and triethyleneglycol dimethacrylate (TEGDMA) as cross-linking additive. It was invented by Drahoslav Lim and Otto Wichterle for biological use. Together they succeeded in preparing a cross-linking gel which absorbed up to 40% of water, exhibited suitable mechanical properties and was transparent. They patented this material in 1953.

Applications

In 1954 this material was first used as an optical implant. Wichterle thought pHEMA might be a suitable material for contact lenses and gained his first patent for soft contact lenses. By late 1961 he succeeded in producing the first four pHEMA hydrogel contact lenses on a home-made apparatus. Copolymers of pHEMA are still widely used today. Poly-HEMA functions as a hydrogel by rotating around its central carbon. In air, the non-polar methyl side turns outward, making the material brittle and easy to grind into the correct lens shape. In water, the polar hydroxyethyl side turns outward and the material becomes flexible. Pure pHEMA yields lenses that are too thick for sufficient oxygen to diffuse through, so all contact lenses that are pHEMA based are manufactured with copolymers that make the gel thinner and increase its water of hydration. These copolymer hydrogel lenses are often suffixed "-filcon", such as Methafilcon, which is a copolymer of hydroxyethyl methacrylate and methyl methacrylate. Another copolymer hydrogel lens, called Polymacon, is a copolymer of hydroxyethyl methacrylate and Ethylene glycol dimethacrylate.