A silicone gasket

PHYSICS · Subjective · Fermi University Physics · Condensed Matter, Materials & Soft Matter · Soft condensed matter · Soft condensed matter

Soft Matter at the Thermal Scale, Ch Rubber elasticity, swelling and gelation

Problem

A silicone gasket, cross-linked with an average of Nx=80N_x = 80 lattice sites between junctions, is immersed in toluene, for which χ=0.25\chi = 0.25 against the gasket material. Estimate the equilibrium swelling ratio QQ using the scaling form Q≈[Nx(12−χ)]3/5.Q \approx \left[N_x\left(\tfrac12-\chi\right)\right]^{3/5}.

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