Autonomous Motion of Hydrogels Driven by Semi-Interpenetrating Chemical Processing Systems

Developing artificial autonomous materials is crucial for a deeper understanding of the emergence of life-like behavior. In nature, cells achieve autonomy through chemical processing systems incorporated into soft material-based frameworks. Inspired by natural cells, we herein describe a straightforward methodology for constructing artificial autonomous materials consisting of a polymer-based chemical processing system and a hydrogel-based soft framework. Using a material comprising a hydrogel framework devoid of active components in combination with semi-interpenetrating self-oscillating linear polymers, we discovered that semi-interpenetrating polymer-based chemical processing systems drive the autonomous motion of the hydrogel framework. The material exhibited autonomous volumetric oscillation powered by the Belousov-Zhabotinsky reaction. Furthermore, the autonomous behavior is controllable by changing the content of the chemical processing system incorporated into the hydrogel framework. Our findings shed light on a class of autonomous materials based on polymer-based chemical processing systems with soft frameworks.