Construction of Direct Observation System for Water hydrating Polymers and Its Application to Analysis of Phase Transition of Water in Polymer Solids

Phase transition behavior of water sorbed into various polymers (with low water content) and adhesion of fibroblast to their polymers were examined. The adhesion behaviors did not have a correlation with chemical structure, glass transition temperature, and water content of the polymers. Temperature variable infrared spectroscopy revealed the existence of phase transition of a part of the sorbed water, which was generally assigned as 'non-freezing (non-freezable) water' by differential scanning calorimetry. Phase transition observed here were not only crystallization and melting but also condensation, vapor deposition, sublimation, revapor-deposition, and vaporization. These results gave a new insight for water structure in water-polymer systems. However, there was no correlation between the fibroblast adhesion to the polymers and the phase transition behavior of water.