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Evaluation of intermolecular interactions of hydrogels: Experimental study and constitutive modeling

Makoto Uchida Orcid Logo, Hiroto Sato, Yoshihisa Kaneko, Dai Okumura Orcid Logo, Mokarram Hossain Orcid Logo

International Journal of Solids and Structures, Volume: 317, Start page: 113428

Swansea University Author: Mokarram Hossain Orcid Logo

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Abstract

The mechanical properties of hydrogels are significantly influenced by the solvent content. In particular, inelastic deformation occurs in dried hydrogels. In this study, we quantitatively evaluated the inelastic deformation of a hydrogel introduced by intermolecular interactions under uniaxial tens...

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Published in: International Journal of Solids and Structures
ISSN: 0020-7683
Published: Elsevier BV 2025
Online Access: Check full text

URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa69405
Abstract: The mechanical properties of hydrogels are significantly influenced by the solvent content. In particular, inelastic deformation occurs in dried hydrogels. In this study, we quantitatively evaluated the inelastic deformation of a hydrogel introduced by intermolecular interactions under uniaxial tensile loading–unloading tests and established a visco-hyperelastic model describing the experimentally observed inelastic behavior based on the transient network theory. The development of the strain field during the test was measured using digital image correlation (DIC) method, and the relationship between the true stress and the true strain was evaluated using the obtained strain field. A significant difference between the loading and the unloading responses was observed for the dried hydrogel specimens. This result indicates that intermolecular interactions induce irreversible deformation when the intermolecular chain distance is smaller. A non-dimensional parameter corresponding to the intermolecular chain distance was introduced to describe the irreversible response of the hydrogel observed in the experimental study. This parameter is a function of the densities of molecular chains, number of segments per chain, and stretching accompanied by swelling and drying. A visco-hyperelastic model was established by introducing the proposed parameter into the transient network theory. The proposed model qualitatively and quantitatively reproduced the experimentally observed features of the mechanical response of the hydrogel.
Keywords: Hydrogel; Swelling; Drying; Inelastic; Visco-hyperelastic; Transient network; Intermolecular interaction
College: Faculty of Science and Engineering
Start Page: 113428