HNSE-P2-4. Water Flow Through Hydrogels
Bianca Navarro1
Yiwei Gao1
Faculty Mentor: Jeremy Cho, Ph.D.1
1Howard R. Hughes College of Engineering, Department of Mechanical Engineering
ABSTRACT
Hydrogels are materials made up of three-dimensional, crosslinked networks composed of hydrophilic polymer chains that are serviceable due to their ability to absorb and retain a significant amount of water. The rate of water absorption can be determined by testing the hydrogels’ permeability to improve the absorption efficiency. This study aims to determine the water permeability of hydrogels of varying crosslinker ratios to facilitate fast water absorption. Here, an aluminum apparatus was designed and manufactured to apply a pressure distribution to hydrogel samples using a water reservoir and pressure regulator. A LabView simulation was programmed to utilize Darcy’s Law to compute water permeability over a time interval. We anticipate that permeability will decrease as the crosslinker ratio increases due to the microstructure of the gel becoming denser. Additionally, we hypothesize that increasing the pressure distribution will compress the gel, also making it denser and decreasing the permeability. The findings will be implemented into an atmospheric water harvester to contend as a possible solution to water scarcity. They will also serve as a base for further research into altering water permeability of hydrogels using freeze/thaw cycles.
Date
- Nov 15 - 19 2021
- Expired!
Time
- All Day
Labels
- HNSE: Poster Session 2
Organizer
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The Office of Undergraduate Research
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Phone
702-895-4771 -
Email
our@unlv.edu -
Website
http://unlv.edu/our
Speakers
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Bianca Navarro | Howard R. Hughes College of Engineering
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Dr. Jeremy Cho | Howard R. Hughes College of Engineering
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Yiwei Gao | Howard R. Hughes College of Engineering
Hi Bianca. How do you manipulate the crosslinker ratio when creating the hydrogel? Is it a matter of combining ingredients in a different way? Or do you use a different process to cause the ratio to change?
If anybody has any questions regarding this research, feel free to comment them below! I will try to respond as fast as possible.
Bianca,
Great presentation! The visual aids on the poster and the example of the kids’ toy made this really easy to understand as someone who doesn’t know much about this area. Great job!
Carrie
Thank you!