Open Access
ARTICLE
The Influence of Entanglements of Net Chains on Phase Transition Temperature of Sensitive Hydrogels in Chemo-Mechanical Coupled Fields
Tao Li1, Qingsheng Yang1, *, Lianhua Ma2, Xiaojun Zhang2, *
1 Department of Engineering Mechanics, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing, 100124, China.
2 College of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Hebei University, Baoding, 071002, China.
* Corresponding Authors: Qingsheng Yang. Email: ;
Xiaojun Zhang. Email: .
Computer Modeling in Engineering & Sciences 2020, 123(3), 995-1014. https://doi.org/10.32604/cmes.2020.09152
Received 15 November 2019; Accepted 24 February 2020; Issue published 28 May 2020
Abstract
Phase transition of hydrogel, which is polymerized by polymer network, can be
regarded as the transition of polymer network stability. The stability of the polymer
network might be changed when the external environment changed. This change will lead
to the transformation of sensitive hydrogels stability, thus phase transition of hydrogel
take place. Here, we present a new free density energy function, which considers
the non-gaussianity of the polymer network, chains entanglement and functionality of
junctions through adding Gent hyplastic model and Edwards-Vilgis slip-link model to
Flory-Huggins theory. A program to calculate the phase transition temperature was written
based on new free energy function. Taking PNIPAM hydrogel as an example, the effects of
network entanglement on the phase transition temperature of hydrogel were studied by
analyzing the microstructure parameters of the hydrogel networks. Analytical results suggest
a significant relationship between phase transition temperature and entanglement network.
Keywords
Cite This Article
Li, T., Yang, Q., Ma, L., Zhang, X. (2020). The Influence of Entanglements of Net Chains on Phase Transition Temperature of Sensitive Hydrogels in Chemo-Mechanical Coupled Fields.
CMES-Computer Modeling in Engineering & Sciences, 123(3), 995–1014. https://doi.org/10.32604/cmes.2020.09152