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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 01 February 2011
We consider a theoretical model of a reactive polymer gel in which the reaction can proceed in an oscillatory regime and generate traveling chemical waves accompanied by waves of local swelling-deswelling. This type of gel could be used for fabricating chemo-mechanical devices with self-sustained rhythmic action, and gel-based pumps. We assume that the Belousov-Zhabotinsky (BZ) reaction takes place in the reactive gel. The BZ reaction generates periodic reduction-oxidation (redox) changes of a metal catalyst covalently bonded to a hydrogel that is immersed in a solution containing the rest of the BZ reagents. The redox changes in the metal affect the polymer-solvent interactions, resulting in variations in the gel volume. The self-oscillation of the gel volume, and the traveling waves of local swelling in a hydrogel with the BZ reaction have been experimentally observed by Yoshida and co-workers. To describe the system theoretically, we employ the Oregonator model of the BZ reaction, and the two-fluid model of gel dynamics. Propagation of one-dimensional wave trains through the reactive gel is simulated. The structure of the traveling swelling-deswelling waves is studied.