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High speed underwater hydrogel robots with programmable motions powered by light

Author

Listed:
  • Chujun Ni

    (Zhejiang University)

  • Di Chen

    (Zhejiang University)

  • Xin Wen

    (Zhejiang University)

  • Binjie Jin

    (Zhejiang University)

  • Yi He

    (Zhejiang University)

  • Tao Xie

    (Zhejiang University
    Zhejiang University)

  • Qian Zhao

    (Zhejiang University
    Zhejiang University)

Abstract

Stimuli-responsive shape-changing hydrogels are attractive candidates for use as underwater soft robots. The bottleneck lies in the low actuation speed inherently limited by the water diffusion between hydrogels and their surrounding environment. In addition, accessing complex motions is restricted by the material fabrication methods. Here we report a hitherto unknown mechanism to achieve high-speed and programmable actuations for a disulfide crosslinked thermally responsive hydrogel. The dynamic photo-activated disulfide bond exchange allows photo-mechanical programming to introduce spatio-selective network anisotropy. This gives rise to an actuation behavior dominated by thermally driven conformation change of the locally oriented polymer chains instead of the common mass-diffusion-based mechanism. With the incorporation of photothermal fillers, light-powered oscillation at frequencies as high as 1.7 Hz is realized. This, coupled with the versatility of the programming, allows access to robots with diverse high-speed motions including continuous swimming, step-wise walking, and rotating.

Suggested Citation

  • Chujun Ni & Di Chen & Xin Wen & Binjie Jin & Yi He & Tao Xie & Qian Zhao, 2023. "High speed underwater hydrogel robots with programmable motions powered by light," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-9, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:14:y:2023:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-023-43576-6
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-43576-6
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Yue Zhang & Kangkang Liu & Tao Liu & Chujun Ni & Di Chen & Jiamei Guo & Chang Liu & Jian Zhou & Zheng Jia & Qian Zhao & Pengju Pan & Tao Xie, 2021. "Differential diffusion driven far-from-equilibrium shape-shifting of hydrogels," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 12(1), pages 1-8, December.
    2. Guorui Li & Xiangping Chen & Fanghao Zhou & Yiming Liang & Youhua Xiao & Xunuo Cao & Zhen Zhang & Mingqi Zhang & Baosheng Wu & Shunyu Yin & Yi Xu & Hongbo Fan & Zheng Chen & Wei Song & Wenjing Yang & , 2021. "Self-powered soft robot in the Mariana Trench," Nature, Nature, vol. 591(7848), pages 66-71, March.
    3. Zi Liang Wu & Michael Moshe & Jesse Greener & Heloise Therien-Aubin & Zhihong Nie & Eran Sharon & Eugenia Kumacheva, 2013. "Three-dimensional shape transformations of hydrogel sheets induced by small-scale modulation of internal stresses," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 4(1), pages 1-7, June.
    4. Yoonho Kim & Hyunwoo Yuk & Ruike Zhao & Shawn A. Chester & Xuanhe Zhao, 2018. "Printing ferromagnetic domains for untethered fast-transforming soft materials," Nature, Nature, vol. 558(7709), pages 274-279, June.
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