Modeling the Phase Transition in Hydrophobic Weak Polyelectrolyte Gels under Compression
The result's identifiers
Result code in IS VaVaI
<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F00216208%3A11310%2F23%3A10470092" target="_blank" >RIV/00216208:11310/23:10470092 - isvavai.cz</a>
Result on the web
<a href="https://verso.is.cuni.cz/pub/verso.fpl?fname=obd_publikace_handle&handle=HmvbpdoNyo" target="_blank" >https://verso.is.cuni.cz/pub/verso.fpl?fname=obd_publikace_handle&handle=HmvbpdoNyo</a>
DOI - Digital Object Identifier
<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/gels9030259" target="_blank" >10.3390/gels9030259</a>
Alternative languages
Result language
angličtina
Original language name
Modeling the Phase Transition in Hydrophobic Weak Polyelectrolyte Gels under Compression
Original language description
One of the emerging water desalination techniques relies on the compression of a polyelectrolyte gel. The pressures needed reach tens of bars, which are too high for many applications, damage the gel and prevent its reuse. Here, we study the process by means of coarse-grained simulations of hydrophobic weak polyelectrolyte gels and show that the necessary pressures can be lowered to only a few bars. We show that the dependence of applied pressure on the gel density contains a plateau indicating a phase separation. The phase separation was also confirmed by an analytical mean-field theory. The results of our study show that changes in the pH or salinity can induce the phase transition in the gel. We also found that ionization of the gel enhances its ion capacity, whereas increasing the gel hydrophobicity lowers the pressure required for gel compression. Therefore, combining both strategies enables the optimization of polyelectrolyte gel compression for water desalination purposes.
Czech name
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Czech description
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Classification
Type
J<sub>imp</sub> - Article in a specialist periodical, which is included in the Web of Science database
CEP classification
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OECD FORD branch
10404 - Polymer science
Result continuities
Project
<a href="/en/project/GJ19-17847Y" target="_blank" >GJ19-17847Y: Development of effective desalination methods using polyelectrolyte hydrogels</a><br>
Continuities
P - Projekt vyzkumu a vyvoje financovany z verejnych zdroju (s odkazem do CEP)
Others
Publication year
2023
Confidentiality
S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů
Data specific for result type
Name of the periodical
Gels
ISSN
2310-2861
e-ISSN
2310-2861
Volume of the periodical
9
Issue of the periodical within the volume
3
Country of publishing house
CH - SWITZERLAND
Number of pages
15
Pages from-to
259
UT code for WoS article
000960159600001
EID of the result in the Scopus database
2-s2.0-85151486776