Abstract
Immersed in a solution of small molecules and ions, a network of long-chain polymers may imbibe the solution and swell, resulting in a polymeric gel. Depending on the molecular structure of the polymers, the amount of swelling can be regulated by moisture, mechanical forces, ionic strength, electric field, pH value, and many other types of stimuli. Starting from the basic principles of non-equilibrium thermodynamics, this chapter formulates a field theory of the coupled large deformation and mass transportation in a neutral polymeric gel. The theory is then extended to study polyelectrolyte gels with charge-carrying networks by accounting for the electromechanical coupling and migration of solute ions. While the theoretical framework is adaptable to various types of material models, some representative ones are described through specific free-energy functions and kinetic laws. A specific material law for pH-sensitive gels—a special type of polyelectrolyte gels—is introduced as an example of incorporating chemical reactions in modeling stimuli-responsive gels. Finally, a simplified theory for the equilibrium but inhomogeneous swelling of a polymeric gel is deduced. The theory and the specific material models are illustrated through several examples.
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Hong, W. (2012). Continuum Models of Stimuli-responsive Gels. In: Advances in Soft Matter Mechanics. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-19373-6_6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-19373-6_6
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