Soft and Wet Materials: Polymer Gels

TLDR

Polymer gels are soft, wet materials that can undergo large deformation and act as energy transducers, enabling diverse stimuli‑responsive actions to environmental changes. The article aims to describe the unique electrical, thermal, and chemical responses of polymer gels. It also briefly introduces recently observed frictional specificities of these gels.

Abstract

A polymer gel is a soft and wet material capable of undergoing large deformation. A deformed gel, in turn, changes its chemical potential, behaving as an energy transducer. Thus, a polymer gel shows a variety of stimuli-responsive actions, responding to external environmental changes. In this article unique electrical, thermal, and chemical responses of polymer gels are described. Recently observed frictional specificities of gels are also briefly introduced.