Patterns in shrinking gels | Nature

ABSTRACT POLYMER gels can undergo a volume phase transition (either continuous or discontinuous) when an external condition, such as temperature or solvent composition, is altered1–3. During

this transition, the volume may change by a factor of several thousand, and various patterns develop in the gel. The patterns arising from swelling and shrinking differ in both their

appearance and their physical mechanisms. The mechanism for the formation and evolution of patterns on swelling gels has been established as being due to a single kind of mechanical

instability4–7; in contrast, the shrinking patterns seem to be sensitive to both the initial and final states of the transition. Here we classify the various shrinking patterns in the form

of a phase diagram, and explain the poly-morphism in terms of macroscopic phase separation. Access through your institution Buy or subscribe This is a preview of subscription content, access

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Log in * Learn about institutional subscriptions * Read our FAQs * Contact customer support SIMILAR CONTENT BEING VIEWED BY OTHERS LINEAR ELASTICITY OF POLYMER GELS IN TERMS OF NEGATIVE

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INFORMATION AUTHORS AND AFFILIATIONS * Department of Applied Biological Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 02139, USA Eriko Sato Matsuo & Toyoichi

Tanaka * Department of Physics and Center for Materials Science and Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 02139, USA Toyoichi Tanaka Authors * Eriko

Sato Matsuo View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * Toyoichi Tanaka View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed 

Google Scholar RIGHTS AND PERMISSIONS Reprints and permissions ABOUT THIS ARTICLE CITE THIS ARTICLE Matsuo, E., Tanaka, T. Patterns in shrinking gels. _Nature_ 358, 482–485 (1992).

https://doi.org/10.1038/358482a0 Download citation * Received: 06 January 1992 * Accepted: 23 June 1992 * Issue Date: 06 August 1992 * DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/358482a0 SHARE THIS

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