Anisotropy of Mechanical Properties and Morphologies of Stretch Induced Hydrogel

Abstract

Hydrogel, a soft and wet functional material with excellent swelling and ductility, have expected to be used as a biomaterial because of its biocompatibility. While most biological tissues exhibit anisotropy of physical properties, hydrogels are isotropic materials. This paper reports the effect of the high elongation process on the anisotropy of mechanical properties and morphologies of CMC/PAA hydrogels prepared by visible light-induced polymerization. As a result, the tensile strength of hydrogels changes with elongation direction and shape-fixing temperature in the elongation process, and the pores expand to the elongation direction.