Development and modeling of electrically triggered hydrogels for microfluidic applications

In this paper, we present progress in the development of electrically triggered hydrogels as components in microfluidic systems. Stimuli-responsive hydrogels are fabricated using liquid-phase photopolymerization techniques and are subjected to different voltage signals in order to determine their volume change response characteristics. A chemoelectromechanical model has been developed to predict the swelling and deswelling kinetics of these hydrogels. The Nernst-Planck equation, Poisson equation, and mechanical equations are the basic governing relationships, and these are solved in an iterative manner to compute the deformation of the hydrogel in response to varied electrical input.