Mechanics from Calorimetry: A New Probe of Elastic
Post# of 22456
Frank J. Aangenendt,1,2,3 Johan Mattsson,4 Wouter G. Ellenbroek,2,5 and Hans M. Wyss1,2,3,∗ 1Dutch Polymer Institute (DPI), P.O. Box 902, 5600AX Eindhoven, The Netherlands 2Institute for Complex Molecular Systems, Eindhoven University of Technology, Eindhoven, The Netherlands 3Department of Mechanical Engineering, Materials Technology, Eindhoven University of Technology, Eindhoven, The Netherlands 4School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, U.K. 5Department of Physics, Eindhoven University of Technology, Eindhoven, The Netherlands (Dated: July 28, 2016)
Hydrogels based on polymers such as poly-N-isopropylacrylamide (pNIPAM) undergo a volume phase transition in response to changes in temperature. During this transition, distinct changes in both thermal and mechanical properties are observed. Here we illustrate and exploit the inherent thermodynamic link between thermal and mechanical properties by showing that the compressive elastic modulus of pNIPAM hydrogels can be determined using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). We verify this by using conventional osmotic compression tests. Our method should be particularly valuable for determining the mechanical response of submicron-sized and/or oddly shaped particles, which is not readily accessible using standard methods.
http://arxiv.org/pdf/1607.07897v1.pdf