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Updated: Feb 27, 2026
Preparation and 3D Tracking of Catalytic Swimming Devices
Published on: July 1, 2016
Bimodal Underwater Motion Monitoring Using Room Temperature Phosphorescent Zwitterionic Hydrogels Enabled by
Ruonan Jia1, Jianting Ye1,2, Lihong Shi2
1Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Sichuan Academy of Medical Sciences and Sichuan Provincial People's Hospital School of Medicine, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu 610072, China.
Abstract:
Hydrogels featuring excellent mechano-electric performance have been widely developed for intelligent robots. Nevertheless, realizing the accurate visualization of motion trajectories for intelligent control remains challenging, particularly in harshly interfering underwater environments. Herein, we present zwitterionic hydrogels that integrate perceptual capabilities with long-lived room temperature phosphorescent (RTP) visualization for underwater motion monitoring, enabled by salting-out ion-directed in situ crystallization of melamine (MA) and poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA). The resulting supramolecular MA-SO42- (Supra-MS) nanocrystals act as both RTP chromophores and a rigid matrix for on-demand RGB-based multicolor RTP emission. Notably, the hydrogel achieves the synergistic integration of high ionic conductivity (7.7 S/m), favorable mechanical properties (∼320% stretchability and 1.1 MJ m-3 toughness), and persistent underwater RTP emission (retaining stability after immersion for 7 days). The as-prepared hydrogels enable bimodal real-time tracking of locomotion trajectories and swimmers' postural dynamics. This work advances RTP-integrated flexible electronics for applications in underwater scenarios.
