In-air fast response and high speed jumping and rolling of a light-driven hydrogel actuator.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 32778650.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41467-020-17775-4 and PMC identifier 7417580.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
Stimuli-responsive hydrogel actuators have promising applications in various fields. However, the typical hydrogel actuation relies on the swelling and de-swelling process caused by osmotic-pressure changes, which is slow and normally requires the presence of water environment. Herein, we report a light-powered in-air hydrogel actuator with remarkable performances, including ultrafast motion speed (up to 1.6 m/s), rapid response (as fast as 800 ms) and high jumping height (~15 cm). The hydrogel is operated based on a fundamentally different mechanism that harnesses the synergetic interactions between the binary constituent parts, i.e. the elasticity of the poly(sodium acrylate) hydrogel, and the bubble caused by the photothermal effect of the embedded magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles. The current hydrogel actuator exhibits controlled motion velocity and direction, making it promising for a wide range of mobile robotics, soft robotics, sensors, controlled drug delivery and other miniature device applications.