Hydrogels
courtesy of Dr. Gracias
Hydrogels describe a broad class of heavily swollen crosslinked polymer networks. The swelling of a hydrogels equilibrated in solution can be affected by different environmental stimuli, including the pH and temperature of the solution. Differential swelling of multi-layered structures can further be exploited to design controllable self-folding structures. The aim of this project is to develop constitutive models for the nonequilibrium swelling and mechanical behavior of hydrogels.
Students
Rui Xiao
Collaborators
Associate Professor, Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Johns Hopkins University