Self-Oscillating Structural Polymer Gels

Srinivasa R. Pullela, Qingsheng Wang, Zhengdong Cheng

Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, USA.
Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, USA；Materials Science and Engineering Program, Texas A&M University, College Station, USA.
Department of Fire Protection & Safety, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, USA；School of Chemical Engineering, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, USA.

DOI: 10.4236/anp.2013.22016                

Abstract

self-oscillating polymer gel has become a distinguished class of smart soft materials. Here we fabricated and demonstrated a self-oscillating structural gel network with the incorporation of the Belousov-Zhabotinsky (BZ) reaction. The structural polymer gel oscillates at a macroscopic level with remarkably faster kinetics compared to a normal gel of similar chemical compositions. The structural polymer gel also displays larger oscillating amplitude compared to the normal gel because of the increased diffusion of fluids surrounding the gel particles. This type of structural polymer gels can be harnessed to provide novel and feasible applications in a wide variety of fields, such as drug delivery, nanopatterning, chemical and biosensing, and photonic crystals.

Keywords

Structural Gel; Belousov-Zhabotinsky Reaction; Self-Oscillation; Poly-(N-isopropylacrylamide);Fast Response

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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