Simulation of Property Variation in Thermoresponsive Hydrogels
| dc.contributor.advisor | Schaefer, Laura A | en_US |
| dc.creator | Agbim, Kenechi A | en_US |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2020-04-23T16:26:03Z | en_US |
| dc.date.available | 2020-04-23T16:26:03Z | en_US |
| dc.date.created | 2020-05 | en_US |
| dc.date.issued | 2020-04-22 | en_US |
| dc.date.submitted | May 2020 | en_US |
| dc.date.updated | 2020-04-23T16:26:03Z | en_US |
| dc.description.abstract | The advancements in the field of smart materials have enabled their use in numerous industries. Though commonly used in biomedical fields, their use in energy management solutions is currently underexplored. Thermoresponsive gels, specifically, have been found to provide cooling to batteries and buildings. Thermal savings in both of these applications often leads to more efficient systems and reduction in energy loads. Similarly, the thermal savings afforded in solar photovoltaic (PV) cell stacks can lead to notable improvements in their performance, thus reducing the energy load to the grid. Many of the current thermal management strategies employed for solar PV systems are less effective due to their size and additional power requirements. Thermoresponsive gels show promise to mitigate the thermal strain often faced by solar PV cells. Their ability to dissipate heat through evaporation is largely driven by their viscoelastic behavior. Much of the research towards understanding the viscoelastic behavior of the low critical solution temperature (LCST) thermoresponsive polymer, poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAAm) has been presented through empirical values that have been found to inadequately match the expected values from the canonical swelling theory. Moreover, as the inclusion of nanomaterials has been found to improve the thermoresponse of the polymer, it is imperative to understand how nanomaterials fundamentally affect the behavior of the polymer in order to influence the design of new smart materials. This work takes a multi-faceted approach to explore how the polymer network varies with temperature and polymer structure. Initially, statistical models are developed to determine the influence selected covariates have on selected viscoelastic outcome predictors. Following this, mesoscale and macroscale tools such as Dissipative Particle Dynamics and semi-empirical analytical modeling respectively, are used to evaluate the changes in the thermal and elastic material properties of the polymer considering variations in monomer chain length, ratios of polymer-to-solvent and nanomaterial-to-polymer. Finally, the feasibility of the pure polymer and nanocomposite materials for use as a passive solar PV cell cooling solution is determined through a comparison of thermal conductivity, specific heat, and coefficient of thermal expansion to those of conventional thermal interface materials. | en_US |
| dc.format.mimetype | application/pdf | en_US |
| dc.identifier.citation | Agbim, Kenechi A. "Simulation of Property Variation in Thermoresponsive Hydrogels." (2020) Diss., Rice University. <a href="https://hdl.handle.net/1911/108348">https://hdl.handle.net/1911/108348</a>. | en_US |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://hdl.handle.net/1911/108348 | en_US |
| dc.language.iso | eng | en_US |
| dc.rights | Copyright is held by the author, unless otherwise indicated. Permission to reuse, publish, or reproduce the work beyond the bounds of fair use or other exemptions to copyright law must be obtained from the copyright holder. | en_US |
| dc.subject | hydrogel polymer | en_US |
| dc.subject | statistical modeling | en_US |
| dc.subject | DPD | en_US |
| dc.subject | thermoresponsive gel | en_US |
| dc.subject | thermal management | en_US |
| dc.subject | elasticity | en_US |
| dc.subject | nanocomposite | en_US |
| dc.title | Simulation of Property Variation in Thermoresponsive Hydrogels | en_US |
| dc.type | Thesis | en_US |
| dc.type.material | Text | en_US |
| thesis.degree.department | Mechanical Engineering | en_US |
| thesis.degree.discipline | Engineering | en_US |
| thesis.degree.grantor | Rice University | en_US |
| thesis.degree.level | Doctoral | en_US |
| thesis.degree.name | Doctor of Philosophy | en_US |
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