---
_id: '6763'
abstract:
- lang: eng
  text: "When grape-sized aqueous dimers are irradiated in a microwave oven, an intense
    electromagnetic hotspot forms at their point of contact, often igniting a plasma.
    Here we show that this irradiation can result in the injection of mechanical energy.
    By examining irradiated hydrogel dimers through high-speed imaging, we find that
    they repeatedly bounce off of each other while irradiated. We determine that an
    average of 1 lJ of mechanical energy is injected into the pair during each collision.
    Furthermore, a characteristic high-pitched audio signal is found to accompany
    each collision.\r\nWe show that both the audio signal and the energy injection
    arise via an interplay between vaporization and elastic deformations in the region
    of contact, the so-called ‘elastic Liedenfrost effect’. Our results establish
    a novel, non-contact method of injecting mechanical energy into soft matter systems,
    suggesting application in fields such as soft robotics."
article_processing_charge: No
article_type: original
author:
- first_name: Hamza K.
  full_name: Khattak, Hamza K.
  last_name: Khattak
- first_name: Scott R
  full_name: Waitukaitis, Scott R
  id: 3A1FFC16-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
  last_name: Waitukaitis
  orcid: 0000-0002-2299-3176
- first_name: Aaron D.
  full_name: Slepkov, Aaron D.
  last_name: Slepkov
citation:
  ama: Khattak HK, Waitukaitis SR, Slepkov AD. Microwave induced mechanical activation
    of hydrogel dimers. <i>Soft Matter</i>. 2019;15(29):5804-5809. doi:<a href="https://doi.org/10.1039/c9sm00756c">10.1039/c9sm00756c</a>
  apa: Khattak, H. K., Waitukaitis, S. R., &#38; Slepkov, A. D. (2019). Microwave
    induced mechanical activation of hydrogel dimers. <i>Soft Matter</i>. Royal Society
    of Chemistry. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1039/c9sm00756c">https://doi.org/10.1039/c9sm00756c</a>
  chicago: Khattak, Hamza K., Scott R Waitukaitis, and Aaron D. Slepkov. “Microwave
    Induced Mechanical Activation of Hydrogel Dimers.” <i>Soft Matter</i>. Royal Society
    of Chemistry, 2019. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1039/c9sm00756c">https://doi.org/10.1039/c9sm00756c</a>.
  ieee: H. K. Khattak, S. R. Waitukaitis, and A. D. Slepkov, “Microwave induced mechanical
    activation of hydrogel dimers,” <i>Soft Matter</i>, vol. 15, no. 29. Royal Society
    of Chemistry, pp. 5804–5809, 2019.
  ista: Khattak HK, Waitukaitis SR, Slepkov AD. 2019. Microwave induced mechanical
    activation of hydrogel dimers. Soft Matter. 15(29), 5804–5809.
  mla: Khattak, Hamza K., et al. “Microwave Induced Mechanical Activation of Hydrogel
    Dimers.” <i>Soft Matter</i>, vol. 15, no. 29, Royal Society of Chemistry, 2019,
    pp. 5804–09, doi:<a href="https://doi.org/10.1039/c9sm00756c">10.1039/c9sm00756c</a>.
  short: H.K. Khattak, S.R. Waitukaitis, A.D. Slepkov, Soft Matter 15 (2019) 5804–5809.
date_created: 2019-08-04T21:59:21Z
date_published: 2019-07-15T00:00:00Z
date_updated: 2023-08-29T06:53:34Z
day: '15'
department:
- _id: ScWa
doi: 10.1039/c9sm00756c
external_id:
  isi:
  - '000476909200002'
  pmid:
  - '31305853'
intvolume: '        15'
isi: 1
issue: '29'
language:
- iso: eng
month: '07'
oa_version: None
page: 5804-5809
pmid: 1
publication: Soft Matter
publication_identifier:
  eissn:
  - '17446848'
  issn:
  - 1744683X
publication_status: published
publisher: Royal Society of Chemistry
quality_controlled: '1'
scopus_import: '1'
status: public
title: Microwave induced mechanical activation of hydrogel dimers
type: journal_article
user_id: 4359f0d1-fa6c-11eb-b949-802e58b17ae8
volume: 15
year: '2019'
...