am8b13235_si_003.avi (3.55 MB)
Rapid Recovery Hydrogel Actuators in Air with Bionic Large-Ranged Gradient Structure
media
posted on 2018-10-30, 00:00 authored by Yun Tan, Di Wang, Huaxiu Xu, Yang Yang, Xiong-Lei Wang, Fei Tian, Pingping Xu, Wenli An, Xu Zhao, Shimei XuFast
recovery in a nonaqueous environment is a big challenge for
hydrogel actuators. In this work, a temperature-responsive hydrogel
actuator with outstandingly rapid recovery in air was reported. The
hydrogel with bionic large-ranged gradient structure was fabricated
by copolymerization of hydrophilic monomer hydroxyethyl acrylate (HEA)
and N-isopropylacrylamide in the dispersion of Laponite
utilizing a facile electrophoretic method. The deformation degree
and time can be regulated by varying the concentration of HEA to change
the lower critical solution temperature (LCST) and swelling of the
hydrogel. A dynamic equilibrium between the water into and out of
the hydrogel was observed, and the hydrogel showed no shrink above
LCST. The synthesized hydrogels showed fast response in hot water
and rapid recovery in air. Such nonshrink characteristics and excellent
reversibility made it possible for these hydrogels to be used as temperature-controlled
microfluidic switches. This work provided an approach to design fast
recovery hydrogel actuators by the incorporation of hydrophilic monomers
and extend the application of the hydrogel actuators into fields such
as soft robots, micromanipulation, microfluidics and artificial muscles
in various environments.
History
Usage metrics
Categories
Keywords
temperature-responsive hydrogel actuatorSuch nonshrink characteristicstemperature-controlled microfluidic switchesrecovery hydrogel actuatorsRapid Recovery Hydrogel Actuatorsbionic large-ranged gradient structuremonomer hydroxyethyl acrylatehydrogel actuatorsHEALCSTBionic Large-Ranged Gradient Structure Fast recovery
Licence
Exports
RefWorks
BibTeX
Ref. manager
Endnote
DataCite
NLM
DC