Microgel-Crosslinked Thermo-Responsive Hydrogel Actuators with High Mechanical Properties and Rapid Response

Smart hydrogels responsive to external stimuli are promising for various applications such as soft robotics and smart devices. High mechanical strength and fast response rate are particularly important for the construction of hydrogel actuators. Herein, tough hydrogels with rapid response rates are synthesized using vinyl-functionalized poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM) microgels as macro-crosslinkers and N-isopropylacrylamide as monomers. The compression strength of the obtained PNIPAM hydrogels is up to 7.13 MPa. The response rate of the microgel-crosslinked hydrogels is significantly enhanced compared with conventional chemically crosslinked PNIPAM hydrogels. The mechanical strength and response rate of hydrogels can be adjusted by varying the proportion of monomers and crosslinkers. The lower critical solution temperature (LCST) of the PNIPAM hydrogels could be tuned by copolymerizing with ionic monomer sodium methacrylate. Thermo-responsive bilayer hydrogels are fabricated using PINPAM hydrogels with different LCSTs via a layer-by-layer method. The thermo-responsive fast swelling and shrinking properties of the two layers endow the bilayer hydrogel with anisotropic structures and asymmetric response characteristics, allowing the hydrogel to respond rapidly. The bilayer hydrogels are fabricated into clamps to grab small objects and flowers that mimicked the closure of petals, and it shows great application prospects in the field of actuators.