We next aimed to determine the minimum molar ratio of shielding groups necessary to prevent spontaneous crosslinking by varying the ratio of GMA:PEGMA (Figure ). We expected that high contents of shielding monomer would entirely inhibit gelation over the measurement time, eventually prohibiting crosslinking even under force. To assess the minimum molar ratio necessary for preventing gelation without applied mechanical stimulus, the mole percent of PEGMA950 (2 0 repeat units) and PEGMA500 (~10 repeat units) shielding monomers within each polymer chain was varied from 30 to 50 mol%. Variations in mole percent of MEMA copolymers was assessed as a negative control. The total concentration of epoxides in solution remained constant at 1 M.