Rheology and mesoscopic structure-dynamics relations of hydrogels (A02)

• Subject Area: Experimental and Theoretical Physics of Polymers
• Term: since 2021
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 431232613

Aim of this combined experimental/theoretical approach is to simultaneously study rheology, mesoscopic structure and dynamics of mucus-mimicking hydrogels and to relate these properties to the molecular hydrogel architecture. Structural data from various scattering experiments serve as input for bottom-up models that account for polymeric degrees of freedom and network topology to predict the macroscopic and microscopic hydrogel viscoelastic spectrum, which is compared with experimental data. This approach will be applied to increasingly complex hydrogels that serve as model systems for mucins/mucus, thereby allowing for improved understanding of mucus properties.

• DFG Programme: Collaborative Research Centres
• Subproject of: SFB 1449: Dynamic Hydrogels at Biointerfaces
• Applicant Institution: Freie Universität Berlin
• Project Heads: Professor Dr. Michael Gradzielski; Professor Dr. Roland Netz