Multiphysics modelling of volume phase transition of ionic hydrogels responsive to thermal stimulus

Abstract

This paper presents the analysis of the volume phase transition of ionic thermo-sensitive hydrogels to thermal stimulus through mathematical modelling. The model is termed the multi-effect-coupling thermal-stimulus (MEC-therm) model and it considers the effects of multi-phases and multi-physics. Its application to steady-state analysis of the hydrogels in swelling equilibrium is validated against available experimental data for the relation between volume swelling ratio and temperature, in which very good agreement is achieved. The phenomenon of volume phase transition is studied for the thermal-stimulus responsive hydrogel. The numerical studies predict well the influences of initially fixed charge density and initial volume fraction of polymeric network on the swelling equilibrium of the hydrogels. © 2005 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA.