Mechanics and transport phenomena in agarose-based hydrogels studied by compression-relaxation tests.

Hydrogels are widespread materials, used in several frontier fields, due to their peculiar behavior: they couple solvent mass transport to system mechanics, exhibiting viscoelastic and poroelastic characteristics. The full understanding of this behavior is crucial to correctly design such complex systems. In this study agarose gels has been investigated through experimental stress-relaxation tests and with the aid of a 3D poroviscoelastic model.