2016-Sustainable Industrial Processing Summit
SIPS 2016 Volume 7: Yang Intl. Symp. / Multiscale Material Mechanics
| Editors: | Kongoli F, Aifantis E, Wang H, Zhu T |
| Publisher: | Flogen Star OUTREACH |
| Publication Year: | 2016 |
| Pages: | 190 pages |
| ISBN: | 978-1-987820-48-5 |
| ISSN: | 2291-1227 (Metals and Materials Processing in a Clean Environment Series) |
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Mechanics and chemistry of hydrogels
Zhigang Suo1;1HARVARD UNIVERSITY, Cambridge, United States;
Type of Paper: Regular
Id Paper: 448
Topic: 1
Abstract:
What can we do if water is a tough solid? A hydrogel is an aggregate of a polymer network and water molecules--that is, a hydrogel is polymer-reinforced water. The polymer network makes the hydrogel a solid, but water molecules in the hydrogel retain its exceptional physical and chemical properties. Several recent findings show that hydrogels can achieve properties and applications well beyond previously imagined. Most existing hydrogels, like Jell-O and tofu, are fragile and dry out in open air. We make hydrogels as tough as rubber, and retain water in the low-humidity environment. Hydrogels are stretchable, transparent, ionic conductors. We demonstrate their use in artificial muscles, skins, and axons. We show that hydrogels outperform existing fire-retarding materials. We also demonstrate fiber-reinforced hydrogels that dissipate energy. This talk describes the mechanics and chemistry of these materials and applications.