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Solvent-adaptive hydrogels with lamellar confinement cellular structure for programmable multimodal locomotion.

Xin Yao1, Hong Chen1, Haili Qin1

  • 1Anhui Province Engineering Research Center of Flexible and Intelligent Materials, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Hefei University of Technology, Hefei, P. R. China.

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Researchers developed new hydrogels capable of fast, programmable motion in harsh environments. These advanced materials offer precise control and durability, paving the way for sophisticated soft actuators.

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Area of Science:

  • Materials Science
  • Soft Robotics
  • Polymer Chemistry

Background:

  • Biological systems exhibit complex multimodal motion via hierarchical anisotropic structures.
  • Artificial soft actuators face limitations in response speed, programmability, and environmental tolerance.
  • Existing actuators struggle with precision in structural design and anisotropic hierarchy for advanced locomotion.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To fabricate environmentally tolerant and fast-responsive hydrogels with advanced structural features.
  • To achieve programmable multi-gait locomotion in hydrogels with precise control over amplitude and directionality.
  • To develop soft actuators suitable for operation in harsh solvent environments.

Main Methods:

  • Programmed assembly directed confinement polymerization.
  • Directional freezing-assisted polymerization within a predesigned anisotropic laminar scaffold.
  • Fabrication of hydrogels with lamellar assembly-confined cellular structure and aligned nanopillars.

Main Results:

  • The hydrogels demonstrated ultrafast responsiveness and anisotropic deformation under temperature, light, and solvent stimuli.
  • Consistent responsive deformation was maintained in all-polarity solvents for over 100 days.
  • Photoactive programmable multi-gait locomotion, including crawling, rotation, floating, and swimming, was achieved and precisely regulated.

Conclusions:

  • The developed hydrogels possess a hierarchically ordered structure enabling dexterous locomotion.
  • These materials exhibit exceptional environmental tolerance and responsiveness, outperforming current soft actuators.
  • The hydrogels show significant potential for flexible intelligent actuators in demanding solvent conditions.