title: Modeling and simulation of deformation of hydrogels responding to electric stimulus.
abstract: A model for simulation of pH-sensitive hydrogels is refined in this paper to extend its application to electric-sensitive hydrogels, termed the refined multi-effect-coupling electric-stimulus (rMECe) model. By reformulation of the fixed-charge density and consideration of finite deformation, the rMECe model is able to predict the responsive deformations of the hydrogels when they are immersed in a bath solution subject to externally applied electric field. The rMECe model consists of nonlinear partial differential governing equations with chemo-electro-mechanical coupling effects and the fixed-charge density with electric-field effect. By comparison between simulation and experiment extracted from literature, the model is verified to be accurate and stable. The rMECe model performs quantitatively for deformation analysis of the electric-sensitive hydrogels. The influences of several physical parameters, including the externally applied electric voltage, initial fixed-charge density, hydrogel strip thickness, ionic strength and valence of surrounding solution, are discussed in detail on the displacement and average curvature of the hydrogels.
authors.affiliation: Institute of High Performance Computing, National University of Singapore, 1 Science Park Road, #01-01 The Capricorn, Singapore Science Park II, Singapore 117528. lihua@ihpc.a-star.edu.sg
authors.forename: Hua
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Rongmo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Luo
authors.forename: K Y
authors.initials: KY
authors.lastname: Lam
mesh_terms: D003198:Computer Simulation; D004558:Electric Stimulation; D020100:Hydrogels; D008954:Models, Biological; D008956:Models, Chemical; D055672:Static Electricity; D023822:Tissue Engineering
chemical_list: D020100:Hydrogels