A Simple Relation between Stiffness and Swelling of a Hydrogel

ORAL

Abstract

From pasta to biological tissues to contact lenses, gel and gel-like materials inherently soften as they swell with water. In dry, low-relative-humidity environments, these materials stiffen as they de-swell with water. We use semi-dilute polymer theory to develop a simple power-law relationship between hydrogel elastic modulus and swelling. From this relationship, we can predict hydrogel stiffness or swelling at arbitrary relative humidities. This predictive capability can enable more rapid material discovery and selection for hydrogel applications in varying humidity environments.

*This work was supported by the University of Nevada, Las Vegas through start-up funds, the Faculty Opportunity Award, the Top Tier Doctoral Graduate Research Assistantship program, and the Spring Semester Research Experience. SSD acknowledges support from the Princeton Effiliates Partnership of the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment, the Eric and Wendy Schmidt Transformative Technology Fund, Project X, and the Princeton Center for Complex Materials, a Materials Research Science and Engineering Center supported by NSF grant DMR-2011750.

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Publication: Scaling laws to predict humidity-induced swelling and stiffness in hydrogels, Soft Matter, 2021, DOI: 10.1039/D1SM01186C

Presenters

  • Yiwei Gao

    • University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Authors

  • Yiwei Gao

    • University of Nevada, Las Vegas

  • Nickolas K.K. Chai

    • University of Nevada, Las Vegas

  • Negin Garakani

    • University of Nevada, Las Vegas

  • Sujit S Datta

    • Princeton University
    • Princeton

  • Han-Jae J Cho

    • University of Nevada - Las Vegas
    • University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Las Vegas
    • University of Nevada, Las Vegas