Computational analysis of the influence of initial fixed charge density on pH-sensitive hydrogels

In this paper, we conduct a computational analysis of the effects of initial fixed charge density on the responsive performance of pH-sensitive hydrogels to environmental change in solution pH. The analysis is based on a chemo-electro-mechanical formulation previously termed the multi-effect-coupling pH-stimulus (MECpH) model. In this work, we improve the MECpH model by incorporating the finite deformation formulation into the mechanical equilibrium equation. The present model consisting of coupled nonlinear partial differential equations is solved via a meshless numerical technique called the Hermite-cloud method with the modified Newton iteration methodology. After validation of the MECpH model by comparing the computational results with experimental data available in the literature, several computational case studies are carried out for analysis of the effects of initial fixed charge density on the distributive variations of the diffusive ion concentrations and electric potential and on the deformation of the pH-stimulus-responsive hydrogels, when they are immersed in different buffered solutions.