Transient instabilities in the swelling dynamics of a hydrogel sphere

We investigate the swelling dynamics driven by solvent absorption in a hydrogel sphere immersed in a solvent bath, through a computational model and a numerical study. We extensively describe the transient process from dry to wet and discuss the onset of surface instabilities through a measure of th...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of applied physics 2017-10, Vol.122 (14)
Main Authors: Curatolo, Michele, Nardinocchi, Paola, Puntel, Eric, Teresi, Luciano
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Applied physics
Hydrogels
Mathematical models
Smoothness
Solvents
Swelling
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Summary:We investigate the swelling dynamics driven by solvent absorption in a hydrogel sphere immersed in a solvent bath, through a computational model and a numerical study. We extensively describe the transient process from dry to wet and discuss the onset of surface instabilities through a measure of the lack of smoothness of the outer surface and a morphological pattern of that surface with respect to the two material paremeters driving the swelling dynamics.
ISSN:0021-8979
1089-7550
DOI:10.1063/1.5007229