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Hydrophilic rubber materials
von Dr. Rudolf Randler
Smart materials are the materials of the future. Switchable materials must be actively adjusted using sensors and controls, whereas intelligent materials adjust themselves. They automatically adapt to certain changes in environmental conditions, and this characteristic offers a basis for the development of innovative products. The combination of superabsorbents and elastomers lead to hydrophilic materials, which work like muscles.
The basis for this is a simple but very effective principle of nature – the ability of gels to absorb and release water, and thereby perform mechanical work. The gel-forming materials used are so-called superabsorbent polymers, which can rapidly bind large volumes of water. The present study presents various applications of such hydrophilic rubber materials in the field of civil engineering.
Subsequently, by using two different examples of water-swelling rubber materials, various aspects of the fabrication process, the microstructure and the swelling properties of this material class will be studied and discussed in more detail.