@article{b2479e02a1a746849b00e21af5a357e1,
title = "Scaling laws to predict humidity-induced swelling and stiffness in hydrogels",
abstract = "From pasta to biological tissues to contact lenses, gel and gel-like materials inherently soften as they swell with water. In dry, low-relative-humidity environments, these materials stiffen as they de-swell with water. Here, we use semi-dilute polymer theory to develop a simple power-law relationship between hydrogel elastic modulus and swelling. From this relationship, we predict hydrogel stiffness or swelling at arbitrary relative humidities. Our close predictions of properties of hydrogels across three different polymer mesh families at varying crosslinking densities and relative humidities demonstrate the validity and generality of our understanding. This predictive capability enables more rapid material discovery and selection for hydrogel applications in varying humidity environments.",
author = "Yiwei Gao and Chai, {Nicholas K.K.} and Negin Garakani and Datta, {Sujit S.} and Cho, {H. Jeremy}",
note = "Funding Information: It is a pleasure to acknowledge Mario R. Mata Arenales and Brandon Ortiz for helpful discussions, indentation testing, and humidity control. We also thank Suraj V. Pochampally and Jaeyun Moon for assistance with FTIR spectroscopy. This work was supported by the University of Nevada, Las Vegas through start-up funds, the Faculty Opportunity Award, the Top Tier Doctoral Graduate Research Assistantship program, and the Spring Semester Research Experience. SSD acknowledges support from the Princeton E-ffiliates Partnership of the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment, the Eric and Wendy Schmidt Transformative Technology Fund, Project X, and the Princeton Center for Complex Materials, a Materials Research Science and Engineering Center supported by NSF grant DMR-2011750. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} The Royal Society of Chemistry 2021.",
year = "2021",
month = nov,
day = "21",
doi = "10.1039/d1sm01186c",
language = "English (US)",
volume = "17",
pages = "9893--9900",
journal = "Soft Matter",
issn = "1744-683X",
publisher = "Royal Society of Chemistry",
number = "43",
}