Year: 2026
Type: preprint
Abstract: In swollen elastomers, elasticity can arrest macroscopic demixing between the polymer network and the solvent, producing stable domains of finite size. While previous theories have focused on isotropically swollen elastomers, anisotropy strongly influences the phase behavior of many related systems, such as gels and crosslinked polymer blends. Building on the approach developed in Part I of this two-part paper, we investigate the effects of two experimentally induced sources of anisotropy: uniaxial swelling and stiffness gradients. We show that uniaxial swelling can lead to the formation of stable lamellar microphases and modify phase behavior, while stiffness gradients can cause spatial variations in the characteristic microphase size.
Source: arXiv (Cornell University)
Institutions: Tel Aviv University, Living Systems (United States)
Subfield: Materials Chemistry
Field: Materials Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
Funder: Israel Science Foundation
Awards: G1467034303, G3645461533
OpenAlex ID: W7204534416
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