A review on recent development of theoretical modeling of hydrogel phase behavior subject to mechanics and multiphysics coupled effects

Abstract

Hydrogel is a class of hydrophilic crosslinked polymeric network filled with interstitial fluid. The specified composition and network structure enable the soft material to exhibit different mechanical properties, ranging from elastic solid to viscous liquid, subject to environmental stimuli. In this process, they are able to imbibe a large amount of water or other biological fluid, and thus solid-solid or solid-liquid phase transition may occur due to discontinuous changes of certain properties, where large elongation and nonlinear deformation are coupled with multiphysics changes, such as mass diffusion, heat conduction, and crosslinks forming/breaking. This paper reviews the recent development of theoretical modeling and simulation work for the soft materials, with emphasis on the phase behavior subject to mechanics and multiphysics coupled effects. Discussions cover bulk phase modeling for equilibrium states and critical conditions, two-phase modeling for gel-gel and gel-sol phase transitions, as well as simulation for interface behavior during phase transition with both sharp and diffuse interface models.