Abstract
Dynamics of solvent release from polymer gels with small solvent-filled cavities is investigated starting from a thermodynamically consistent and enriched multiphysics stress-diffusion model. Indeed, the modeling also accounts for a new global volumetric constraint which makes the volume of the solvent in the cavity and the cavity volume equal at all times. This induces a characteristic suction effect into the model through a negative pressure acting on the cavity walls. The problem is solved for gel-based spherical microcapsules and microtubules. The implementation of the mathematical model into a finite element code allows to quantitatively describe and compare the dynamics of solvent release from full spheres, hollow spheres, and tubules in terms of a few key quantities such as stress states and amount of released solvent under the same external conditions.
Highlights
In the last years, solvent release from polymer gels has been intensively studied, as it is able to drive quite large deformations in polymer-based structures
The dynamics of the release process depends on the deformations which can significantly affect the rate of release; its control is as important as the control of the shape changes induced by the release in polymer-based structures
We show the difference in solvent release from a full sphere and a capsule during the dynamics of the process; we show the difference between the two situations in terms of stress state
Summary
Solvent release from polymer gels has been intensively studied, as it is able to drive quite large deformations in polymer-based structures. Stress-diffusion models are based on the Flory-Rehner constitutive theory which describes the thermodynamics of the solvent-polymer mixture. They deal with the analysis of the steady response of polymer gels under constraint and applied forces [11, 19,20,21,22,23,24]; the transient dynamics occurring during swelling or drying processes have been studied, too [13, 15, 17, 18, 25,26,27]. The process has been recently observed in the solvent-filled micro-cavities which are the elementary
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