Concentration of a Polymer solution

The slides are divided in three parts: 1 Macromolecules: We shall derive the Flory-Huggins free energy for macroscopic polymer mixture by using simple statistical models of polymer chains. 2 Stress-Free Shape-Formation: We shall introduce the notion of distortions in the framework of nonlinear solid mechanics; we shall characterise compatible distortions and we shall give some examples of very large deformations of elastic bodies realised without varying the elastic energy. 3 Multi-physics Modeling: We shall present the ‘toolbox ’ needed for developing a multi-physics model, where mechanics is coupled with other physics; this part exploits the essence of Active Soft Matter: softness is related to the possibility of undergoing very large deformations; active to the fact that mechanical deformations are controlled by other non-mechanical physical process. We shall give two examples: 1) Transient swelling of hydrogel, where solvent diffusion is coupled with swelling; 2) Muscle contractions, where muscle shortening is coupled with the spreading of action potential