Sleeboom Jelle J F, Voudouris Panayiotis, Punter Melle T J J M, Aangenendt Frank J, Florea Daniel, van der Schoot Paul, Wyss Hans M
Institute for Complex Molecular Systems, Eindhoven University of Technology, 5600MB Eindhoven, The Netherlands.
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Eindhoven University of Technology, 5600MB Eindhoven, The Netherlands.
Phys Rev Lett. 2017 Sep 1;119(9):098001. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.119.098001. Epub 2017 Aug 31.
We use dedicated microfluidic devices to expose soft hydrogel particles to a rapid change in the externally applied osmotic pressure and observe a surprising, nonmonotonic response: After an initial rapid compression, the particle slowly reswells to approximately its original size. We theoretically account for this behavior, enabling us to extract important material properties from a single microfluidic experiment, including the compressive modulus, the gel permeability, and the diffusivity of the osmolyte inside the gel. We expect our approach to be relevant to applications such as controlled release, chromatography, and responsive materials.
我们使用专用的微流控设备，使柔软的水凝胶颗粒暴露于外部施加的渗透压的快速变化中，并观察到一种惊人的非单调响应：在最初的快速压缩之后，颗粒会缓慢地重新膨胀至大致其原始尺寸。我们从理论上解释了这种行为，这使我们能够从单个微流控实验中提取重要的材料特性，包括压缩模量、凝胶渗透率以及凝胶内部渗透溶质的扩散率。我们期望我们的方法适用于诸如控释、色谱分析和响应材料等应用。
