Molecular dynamics in smart hydrogel systems

Intelligent hydrogels, particularly hydrolyzed polyacrylamide (PAAM) interact with their environment in a preprogrammed and intelligent manner. Since the dynamics property is critical to the applications of this material, we investigate in this study the ion exchange, between the hydrogel and its surrounding environment, induced by a chemical stimulation. Understanding the fundamental phenomena of PAAM contracting mechanisms is necessary in order to respond to emerging technology demands for high performance systems based on such materials.