Poroelastic properties of hydrogel microparticles.

Abstract

Hydrogels can be formed in a number of different geometries depending upon desired function. However, due to the lack of appropriate models required to interpret experimental data, it remains unclear whether hydrogel microparticles have the same poroelastic properties as hydrogel films made with the same components. We perform numerical simulations to determine the universal force relaxation of a poroelastic hydrogel particle undergoing constant compression by a spherical probe, allowing analysis of experimental measurements of hydrogel particle material properties for the first time. In addition, we perform experimental measurements, using colloidal probe atomic force microscopy, of the for..