Home – Home – Jornals – Thermophysics and Aeromechanics 2013 number 6

An optical method was applied to study the peculiarities of diffusion in gel: this method provides real-time visualization of spreading of solutes brought into the gel. It was shown that spectral characteristics of reflected light give additional information about nature of diffusive spreading of solutes and about state of the gel. Gels with different densities and lifetime were studied. These parameters have strong influence on the velocity of diffusion. The study demonstrated critical differences for diffusion process in gels with true solutions and with solutions with nanoparticles. Experiments discovered the anisotropy in 3D diffusion of solutes in gels; physical explanation of this phenomenon was proposed.