Physics of Polymer Gels
1. Edition April 2020
304 Pages, Hardcover
9 Pictures
Monograph
Further versions
Explains the correlation between the physical properties and structure of polymer gels
This book elucidates in detail the physics of polymer gels and reviews their unique properties that make them attractive for innumerable applications. Geared towards experienced researchers and entrants to the field, it covers rubber elasticity, swelling and shrinking, deformation and fracture of as well as mass transport in polymer gels, enabling the readers to purposefully design polymer gels fit for specific purposes.
Divided into two parts, Physics of Polymer Gels starts by explaining the statistical mechanics and scaling of a polymer chains, and that of polymer solutions. It then introduces the structure of polymer gels and explains the rubber elasticity, which predicts the solid-like nature of polymer gels. Next, it describes swelling/deswelling, which can be understood by combining the rubber elasticity and the osmotic pressure of a polymer solution. Large deformation and fracture, and the diffusion of substances in polymer gels, which are essential for practical applications, are also introduced. The last half of the book contains the authors' experimental results using Tetra-PEG gels and provides readers with the opportunity to examine and compare it with the first half in order to understand how to utilize the models to experiments. This title:
* Is the first book dedicated to the physics of polymer gels
* Describes in detail the properties of polymer gels and their underlying physics, facilitating the development of novel, polymer gel-based applications
* Serves as a reference for all relevant polymer gel properties and their underlying physics
* Provides a unified treatment of the subject, explaining the physical properties of polymer gels within a common nomenclature framework
Physics of Polymer Gels is a must-have book for experienced researchers, such as polymer chemists, materials scientists, organic chemists, physical chemists, and solid-state physicists, as well as for newcomers to the field.
SINGLE POLYMER CHAIN
General Features
Statistics of a Single Polymer Chain
Scaling of a Single Polymer Chain
POLYMER SOLUTION
Polymer Chains in Solution
Effect of Polymer Concentration on Chain Conformation
Osmotic Pressure of a Polymer Solution
DEFINITION OF POLYMER GEL AND RUBBER ELASTICITY
Definition of Polymer Gels
Mesh Size of a Polymer Gel
Elastic Modulus
Network Strands and Crosslinks
Topological Interaction
Sol-Gel Transition
Heterogeneity of Polymer Gels
SWELLING AND DESWELLING
Change in the Elastic Modulus due to Swelling/Deswelling
Equilibrium Swelling
Volume Phase Transition
Swelling/Deswelling Kinetics
Degradation of Polymer Gels
DEFORMATION AND FRACTURE
Description of Deformation
Phenomenological Description of the Strain Energy Density Function
Molecular Models for the Strain Energy Density Function
Scaling for Large Deformation
Fracture Behavior of Polymer Gels
Mesh Size Estimated from Elastic Modulus and Fine Extensibility
MASS TRANSPORT IN POLYMER GEL
Thermal Motion and Brownian Motion
Diffusion in Dilute Polymer Solutions
Diffusion in Semi-Dilute Polymer Solutions and Polymer Gels
PART II. Experiments
TETRA GEL AS A NEAR-IDEAL POLYMER NETWORK
Ideal Polymer Network
Tetra-PEG Gel
Structure Tuning of Tetra-PEG Gels
SOL-GEL TRANSITION
Determination of Sol-Gel Transition by Rheometry
Phase Diagram
Fractal Dimension at the Critical Point
Reaction Kinetics of a Gelling System
STRUCTURAL ANALYSIS BY LIGHT AND NEUTRON SCATTERING
Scattering Curves of Tetra-PEG Gels
Scattering Curves of Stretched Tetra-PEG Gels
ELASTIC MODULUS
Effect of Connectivity
Effect of Polymer Concentration and Network Strand Length
LARGE DEFORMATION
Estimation of Strain Energy Density Function
Cross Coupling
Stretchability in Uniaxial Stretching
FRACTURE
Estimation of Fracture Energy
Conversion-Tuned Tetra-PEG Gels
Effects of Network Concentration and Strand Length
Bimodal Tetra-PEG Gels
Summary
MASS TRANSPORT
Diffusion of Water Molecules
Migration of Water Molecules in Hydrogels
Electro-Osmotic Flow in Electrically Charged Gels
Migration of Small Double Stranded DNAs
Migration of Large Double Stranded DNAs
OSMOTIC PRESSURE
Osmotic Pressure of Gels and Prepolymer Solutions
Change in Osmotic Pressure during Gelation
c* Theorem at Gelation Threshold
SWELLING
Elastic Modulus of Swollen and Highly Deswollen Gels
Equilibrium Swelling
Swelling Kinetics
DEGRADATION
Cleavage of Specific Site
Cleavage of Non-Specific Site
CONTROL OVER SWELLING OF INJECTABLE GEL
Nonswellable Gels
Non-Osmotic Gel
Oligo-TetraPEG Gel
