Thermally Tunable Acoustic Beam Splitter Based on Poly(vinyl alcohol) Poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) Hydrogel.

ABSTRACT: In this study, we demonstrated a thermally tunable acoustic beam splitter using a poly(vinyl alcohol) poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) hydrogel (PVA-pNIPAM). The nature of PVA-pNIPAM hydrogel offers exceptional temperature-dependent physical properties due to its phase transition around its lower critical solution temperature. The acoustic impedance of the hydrogel can be tuned below, above, or matched to that of water by changing the environmental temperature. An acoustic wave propagating in water can be split into transmitted and reflected components by the PVA-pNIPAM hydrogel slab on varying its angle of incidence. The intensity ratio between the reflected and the transmitted componence can be adjusted by tuning the temperature of the medium. The acoustic beam can be entirely reflected at a

SUBMITTER: Jin Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8482244 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature