Abstract
Polyelectrolytic gels placed in aqueous solution show effects under various kinds of stimulation. The stimuli could be e.g. of chemical, electrical, mechanical or thermal nature. The hydrogels react via uptake or delivery of mobile ions and solvent, and they show enormous swelling capabilities. This multifunctional behaviour is potentially attractive for chemo-electro-mechanical energy converters or for the use as actuators or sensors. In the present research, anionic and cationic hydrogels are investigated, which means that the polymer network contains anionic or cationic bound charged groups. The chemical stimulation is applied by a change of boundary conditions in the solution bath for the salt concentrations. The electrical stimulus is realized by incorporating electrodes between which an electric potential difference is applied. The mechanical stimulus is realized by prescribed displacements at a boundary of the hydrogel itself. The thermal stimulus is applied as transient temperature change over the whole domain, incorporating temperature-dependent material parameters and osmotic pressure differences. The reactions of the hydrogel differ depending on the sensitivity of the gel to the applied stimulus. The incorporated chemo-electro-mechanical model enhanced with thermal dependencies is capable of giving local concentrations, electric potential and mechanical displacements.
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