2017 Participants
Kundan Jeswani
Soft matter, such as hydrogels, can be used in several medical applications including drug delivery, contact lenses and tissue engineering. Due to their structure, hydrogels have different physical properties with different swelling ratios (percentage of water). For instance, the gels used for soft contact lenses are relatively stiff and strong but can crack during handling depending on the extent of drying.
This project focused on determining the stiffness, strains and ultimate tensile strength (UTS) of nine different hydrogels, each of which density. The engineering stress and strain results were processed in a Digital Image Correlation (DIC) software. It was found that the stiffness of the hydrogels can be increased by increasing the crosslinker concentration. The results also show that the UTS of the hydrogels is not dependent on the density of the material. These findings will contribute to work directed at modifying existing commercial hydrogels to improve their functionality.
Funding source: Newcastle University
Supervisor: Prof S Bull