Water/glycerol mixed solvent transportation behavior of mechanically constrained agarose gels

Abstract The effect of glycerol on the solvent transportation behavior of mechanically constrained agarose gels was studied. The sample hydrogels were prepared using a water/glycerol mixed solvent containing various concentrations of glycerol. The compression load relaxed under the compression, and the volume of the agarose gels decreased synchronously with mechanical relaxation. This implied that the solvent is squeezed out due to mechanical constraints; the time constants for both the mechanical relaxation and the volume change are directly related to the friction between the solvent and the gel network structure. Both time constants increased with an increase in glycerol concentration. These results indicate that glycerol changes the gel network structure, and this is confirmed by other experimental evidence. The compression fracture stress and strain improved with an increase in glycerol content. Moreover, scanning electron microscope images showed that the mesh size of the gel network decreased with an increase in glycerol content.