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Valence can control the nonexponential viscoelastic relaxation of multivalent reversible gels
- Publication Year :
- 2021
-
Abstract
- Gels made of telechelic polymers connected by reversible crosslinkers are a versatile design platform for biocompatible viscoelastic materials. Their linear response to a step strain displays a fast, near-exponential relaxation when using low valence crosslinkers, while larger supramolecular crosslinkers bring about much slower dynamics involving a wide distribution of time scales whose physical origin is still debated. Here, we propose a model where the relaxation of polymer gels in the dilute regime originates from elementary events in which the bonds connecting two neighboring crosslinkers all disconnect. Larger crosslinkers allow for a greater average number of bonds connecting them, but also generate more heterogeneity. We characterize the resulting distribution of relaxation time scales analytically, and accurately reproduce stress relaxation measurements on metal-coordinated hydrogels with a variety of crosslinker sizes including ions, metal-organic cages, and nanoparticles. Our approach is simple enough to be extended to any crosslinker size and could thus be harnessed for the rational design of complex viscoelastic materials.<br />Comment: 6 pages 5 figures 1 table for the main text and 9 pages 7 figures for the supplement
- Subjects :
- Condensed Matter - Soft Condensed Matter
Condensed Matter - Materials Science
Subjects
Details
- Database :
- arXiv
- Publication Type :
- Report
- Accession number :
- edsarx.2112.07454
- Document Type :
- Working Paper