Why Hydrogels Don’t Dribble Water
Department of Bioengineering, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
Gels 2017, 3(4), 43; https://doi.org/10.3390/gels3040043
Received: 11 September 2017
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Revised: 5 November 2017
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Accepted: 14 November 2017
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Published: 15 November 2017
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Role of Water in the Properties of Hydrogels)
Hydrogels contain ample amounts of water, with the water-to-solid ratio sometimes reaching tens of thousands of times. How can so much water remain securely lodged within the gel? New findings imply a simple mechanism. Next to hydrophilic surfaces, water transitions into an extensive gel-like phase in which molecules become ordered. This “fourth phase” of water sticks securely to the solid gel matrix, ensuring that the water does not leak out.
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Keywords:
fourth phase; exclusion zone water; negative charge; protons; swelling; infrared energy; polymer matrix
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MDPI and ACS Style
Pollack, G.H. Why Hydrogels Don’t Dribble Water. Gels 2017, 3, 43. https://doi.org/10.3390/gels3040043
AMA Style
Pollack GH. Why Hydrogels Don’t Dribble Water. Gels. 2017; 3(4):43. https://doi.org/10.3390/gels3040043
Chicago/Turabian StylePollack, Gerald H. 2017. "Why Hydrogels Don’t Dribble Water" Gels 3, no. 4: 43. https://doi.org/10.3390/gels3040043
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