Biopolymer gel swelling analysed with scaling laws and Flory-Rehner theory

The swelling of biopolymer gels is analysed with scaling laws from polymer physics, as an alternative for the classical Flory-Rehner theory. With these scaling laws, holding for polymer concentrations in the semi-dilute regime, experimental data on deswelling of gels can be collapsed to a single universal master curve. The predictions made with the scaling laws are similar to those made with the modified Flory-Rehner, where the osmotic pressure is described with a composition-dependent interaction parameter. For gels in the semi-dilute regime we recommend the use of the scaling laws, because their compact, and universal character. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.