Issue

Vol. 14 (2022)

Touch-Responsive Hydrogel for Biomimetic Flytrap-Like Soft Actuator

https://doi.org/10.1007/s40820-022-00931-4
Junjie Wei
Key Laboratory of Marine Materials and Related Technologies, Zhejiang Key Laboratory of Marine Materials and Protective Technologies, Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Ningbo 315201, People’s Republic of China
Rui Li
Key Laboratory of Marine Materials and Related Technologies, Zhejiang Key Laboratory of Marine Materials and Protective Technologies, Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Ningbo 315201, People’s Republic of China
Long Li
Key Laboratory of Marine Materials and Related Technologies, Zhejiang Key Laboratory of Marine Materials and Protective Technologies, Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Ningbo 315201, People’s Republic of China
Wenqin Wang
School of Materials Science and Chemical Engineering, Ningbo University, Ningbo 315211, People’s Republic of China
Tao Chen
Key Laboratory of Marine Materials and Related Technologies, Zhejiang Key Laboratory of Marine Materials and Protective Technologies, Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Ningbo 315201, People’s Republic of China

Corresponding Author: Tao Chen

tao.chen@nimte.ac.cn

Nano-Micro Letters, Vol. 14 (2022), Article Number: 182

Abstract

Stimuli-responsive hydrogel is regarded as one of the most promising smart soft materials for the next-generation advanced technologies and intelligence robots, but the limited variety of stimulus has become a non-negligible issue restricting its further development. Herein, we develop a new stimulus of “touch” (i.e., spatial contact with foreign object) for smart materials and propose a flytrap-inspired touch-responsive polymeric hydrogel based on supersaturated salt solution, exhibiting multiple responsive behaviors in crystallization, heat releasing, and electric signal under touch stimulation. Furthermore, utilizing flytrap-like cascade response strategy, a soft actuator with touch-responsive actuation is fabricated by employing the touch-responsive hydrogel and the thermo-responsive hydrogel. This investigation provides a facile and versatile strategy to design touch-responsive smart materials, enabling a profound potential application in intelligence areas.


Highlights:


1 A pioneering touch-responsive material with multiple responsiveness to touch stimulation (i.e., spatial contact with foreign object) is successfully developed.
2 The responsive behaviors of touch-responsive hydrogel exhibit excellent controllability and designability.
3 Based on cascade response strategy, a flytrap-like soft actuator with touch-responsive actuation is fabricated by employing the touch-responsive hydrogel.

Keywords

Stimuli-responsive hydrogels Touch stimulation Bionic actuation Smart materials Supersaturated salt solution
Wei, Junjie, Rui Li, Long Li, Wenqin Wang, and Tao Chen. 2022. “Touch-Responsive Hydrogel for Biomimetic Flytrap-Like Soft Actuator”. Nano-Micro Letters 14 (September):182. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40820-022-00931-4.
Download Citation
Endnote/Zotero/Mendeley (RIS)
BibTeX
References
  1. M. Ilami, H. Bagheri, R. Ahmed, E.O. Skowronek, H. Marvi, Materials, actuators, and sensors for soft bioinspired robots. Adv. Mater. 33(19), 2003139 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.202003139
  2. C.A. Aubin, B. Gorissen, E. Milana, P.R. Buskohl, N. Lazarus et al., Towards enduring autonomous robots via embodied energy. Nature 602(7897), 393–402 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-021-04138-2
  3. E.S. Keneth, A. Kamyshny, M. Totaro, L. Beccai, S. Magdassi, 3D printing materials for soft robotics. Adv. Mater. 33(19), 2003387 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.202003387
  4. Z.C. Li, C. Gao, S.S. Fan, J. Zou, G.Y. Gu et al., Cell nanomechanics based on dielectric elastomer actuator device. Nano-Micro Lett. 11, 98 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40820-019-0331-8
  5. Y. Lee, W.J. Song, J.Y. Sun, Hydrogel soft robotics. Mater. Today Phys. 15, 100258 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mtphys.2020.100258
  6. C.Y. Lo, Y.S. Zhao, C. Kim, Y. Alsaid, R. Khodambashi et al., Highly stretchable self-sensing actuator based on conductive photothermally-responsive hydrogel. Mater. Today 50, 35–43 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mattod.2021.05.008
  7. Y.S. Zhao, C.Y. Lo, L.C. Ruan, C.H. Pi, C. Kim et al., Somatosensory actuator based on stretchable conductive photothermally responsive hydrogel. Sci. Robot. 6(53), eabd5483 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1126/scirobotics.abd5483
  8. C.H. Yang, Z.G. Suo, Hydrogel ionotronics. Nat. Rev. Mater. 3(6), 125–142 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41578-018-0018-7
  9. Y.H. Jiang, Y. Wang, Q. Li, C. Yu, W.L. Chu, Natural polymer-based stimuli-responsive hydrogels. Curr. Med. Chem. 27(16), 2631–2657 (2020). https://doi.org/10.2174/0929867326666191122144916
  10. S.X. Wei, Z. Li, W. Lu, H. Liu, J.W. Zhang et al., Multicolor fluorescent polymeric hydrogels. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 60(16), 8608–8624 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.202007506
  11. V.X. Truong, J. Bachmann, A.N. Unterreiner, J.P. Blinco, C. Barner-Kowollik, Wavelength-orthogonal stiffening of hydrogel networks with visible light. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 61(15), e202113076 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.202113076
  12. A. Meeks, M.M. Lerch, T.B.H. Schroeder, A. Shastri, J. Aizenberg, Spiropyran photoisomerization dynamics in multiresponsive hydrogels. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 144(1), 219–227 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1021/jacs.1c08778
  13. K.K. Liu, Y. Zhang, H.Q. Cao, H.N. Liu, Y.H. Geng et al., Programmable reversible shape transformation of hydrogels based on transient structural anisotropy. Adv. Mater. 32(28), 2001693 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.202001693
  14. Z.H. Zhang, Z.Y. Chen, Y. Wang, Y.J. Zhao, Bioinspired conductive cellulose liquid-crystal hydrogels as multifunctional electrical skins. PNAS 117(31), 18310–18316 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2007032117
  15. Y.Z. Zhang, K.H. Lee, D.H. Anjum, R. Sougrat, Q. Jiang et al., MXenes stretch hydrogel sensor performance to new limits. Sci. Adv. 4(6), eaat0098 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aat0098
  16. S.S. Wu, H.H. Shi, W. Lu, S.X. Wei, H. Shang et al., Aggregation-induced emissive carbon dots gels for octopus-inspired shape/color synergistically adjustable actuators. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 60(40), 21890–21898 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.202107281
  17. H.H. Shi, S.S. Wu, M.Q. Si, S.X. Wei, G.Q. Lin et al., Cephalopod-inspired design of photomechanically modulated display systems for on-demand fluorescent patterning. Adv. Mater. 34(4), 2107452 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.202107452
  18. X.P. Hao, Z. Xu, C.Y. Li, W. Hong, Q. Zheng et al., Kirigami-design-enabled hydrogel multimorphs with application as a multistate switch. Adv. Mater. 32(22), 2000781 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.202000781
  19. Q.D. Zhu, K.V. Vliet, N. Holten-Andersen, A. Miserez, A double-layer mechanochromic hydrogel with multidirectional force sensing and encryption capability. Adv. Funct. Mater. 29(14), 1808191 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1002/adfm.201808191
  20. L. Li, J.M. Scheiger, P.A. Levkin, Design and applications of photoresponsive hydrogels. Adv. Mater. 31(26), 1807333 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.201807333
  21. Z.X. Deng, R. Yu, B.L. Guo, Stimuli-responsive conductive hydrogels: design, properties, and applications. Mater. Chem. Front. 5(5), 2092–2123 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1039/d0qm00868k
  22. Y.H. Chen, J.J. Yang, X. Zhang, Y.Y. Feng, H. Zeng et al., Light-driven bimorph soft actuators: design, fabrication, and properties. Mater. Horiz. 8(3), 728–757 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1039/d0mh01406k
  23. E.M. White, J. Yatvin, J.B. Grubbs, J.A. Bilbrey, J. Locklin, Advances in smart materials: stimuli-responsive hydrogel thin films. J. Polym. Sci. Part B Polym. Phys. 51(14), 1084–1099 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1002/polb.23312
  24. X.X. Le, W. Lu, J.W. Zhang, T. Chen, Recent progress in biomimetic anisotropic hydrogel actuators. Adv. Sci. 6(5), 1801584 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1002/advs.201801584
  25. D. Zhang, B.P. Ren, Y.X. Zhang, L.J. Xu, Q.Y. Huang et al., From design to applications of stimuli-responsive hydrogel strain sensors. J. Mater. Chem. B 8(16), 3171–3191 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1039/c9tb02692d
  26. P. Lavrador, M.R. Esteves, V.M. Gaspar, J.F. Mano, Stimuli-responsive nanocomposite hydrogels for biomedical applications. Adv. Funct. Mater. 31(8), 2005941 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1002/adfm.202005941
  27. G. Wu, S.Y. Sun, X.L. Zhu, Z.Y. Ma, Y.M. Zhang et al., Microfluidic fabrication of hierarchical-ordered ZIF-L(Zn)@Ti3C2Tx core-sheath fibers for high-performance asymmetric supercapacitors. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 61(8), e202115559 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.202115559
  28. C.X. Ma, W. Lu, X.X. Yang, J. He, X.X. Le et al., Bioinspired anisotropic hydrogel actuators with on-off switchable and color-tunable fluorescence behaviors. Adv. Funct. Mater. 28(7), 1704568 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1002/adfm.201704568
  29. Z.J. Shao, S.S. Wu, Q. Zhang, H. Xie, T. Xiang et al., Salt-responsive polyampholyte-based hydrogel actuators with gradient porous structures. Polym. Chem. 12(5), 670–679 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1039/d0py01492c
  30. L.Q. Hua, M.Q. Xie, Y.K. Jian, B.Y. Wu, C.Y. Chen et al., Multiple-responsive and amphibious hydrogel actuator based on asymmetric UCST-type volume phase transition. ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 11(46), 43641–43648 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.9b17159
  31. Z.Y. Lei, Q.K. Wang, S.T. Sun, W.C. Zhu, P.Y. Wu, A bioinspired mineral hydrogel as a self-healable, mechanically adaptable ionic skin for highly sensitive pressure sensing. Adv. Mater. 29(22), 1700321 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.201700321
  32. D. Das, P. Ghosh, A. Ghosh, C. Haldar, S. Dhara et al., Stimulus-responsive, biodegradable, biocompatible, covalently cross-linked hydrogel based on dextrin and poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) for in vitro/in vivo controlled drug release. ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 7(26), 14338–14351 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.5b02975
  33. Y.P. Wang, X.F. Cao, J. Cheng, B.W. Yao, Y.S. Zhao et al., Cephalopod-inspired chromotropic ionic skin with rapid visual sensing capabilities to multiple stimuli. ACS Nano 15(2), 3509–3521 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1021/acsnano.1c00181
  34. B.F. Ding, P.Y. Zeng, Z.Y. Huang, L.X. Dai, T.S. Lan et al., A 2D material-based transparent hydrogel with engineerable interference colours. Nat. Commun. 13, 1212 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-26587-z
  35. J.J. Wei, Y.F. Zheng, T. Chen, A fully hydrophobic ionogel enables highly efficient wearable underwater sensors and communicators. Mater. Horiz. 8(10), 2761–2770 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1039/d1mh00998b
  36. J. Yeom, A. Choe, S. Lim, Y. Lee, S. Na et al., Soft and ion-conducting hydrogel artificial tongue for astringency perception. Sci. Adv. 6(23), eaba5785 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aba5785
  37. Y.L. Zhang, W.Y. Zhao, S.H. Ma, H. Liu, X.W. Wang et al., Modulus adaptive lubricating prototype inspired by instant muscle hardening mechanism of catfish skin. Nat. Commun. 13, 377 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-28038-9
  38. J.W. Huang, Y. Liu, Y.X. Yang, Z.J. Zhou, J. Mao et al., Electrically programmable adhesive hydrogels for climbing robots. Sci. Robot. 6(53), eabe1858 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1126/scirobotics.abe1858
  39. Q.L. Zhu, C.F. Dai, D. Wagner, M. Daab, W. Hong et al., Distributed electric field induces orientations of nanosheets to prepare hydrogels with elaborate ordered structures and programmed deformations. Adv. Mater. 32(47), 2005567 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.202005567
  40. C.Y. Li, S.Y. Zheng, X.P. Hao, W. Hong, Q. Zheng et al., Spontaneous and rapid electro-actuated snapping of constrained polyelectrolyte hydrogels. Sci. Adv. 8(15), eabm9608 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abm9608
  41. Q.L. Zhu, C.F. Dai, D. Wagner, O. Khoruzhenko, W. Hong et al., Patterned electrode assisted one-step fabrication of biomimetic morphing hydrogels with sophisticated anisotropic structures. Adv. Sci. 8(24), 2102353 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1002/advs.202102353
  42. H. Na, Y.W. Kang, C.S. Park, S. Jung, H.Y. Kim et al., Hydrogel-based strong and fast actuators by electroosmotic turgor pressure. Science 376(6590), 301–307 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abm7862
  43. W.L. Li, N. Matsuhisa, Z.Y. Liu, M. Wang, Y.F. Luo et al., An on-demand plant-based actuator created using conformable electrodes. Nat. Electron. 4(2), 134–142 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41928-020-00530-4
  44. Z.H. Zhang, Z.Y. Chen, Y. Wang, J.J. Chi, Y.T. Wang et al., Bioinspired bilayer structural color hydrogel actuator with multienvironment responsiveness and survivability. Small Methods 3(12), 1900519 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1002/smtd.201900519
  45. G.W. Lee, Formation of metastable crystals from supercooled, supersaturated, and supercompressed liquids: role of crystal-liquid interfacial free energy. Curr. Comput.-Aided Drug Des. 7(11), 326 (2017). https://doi.org/10.3390/cryst7110326
  46. F. Yang, A. Cholewinski, L. Yu, G. Rivers, B.X. Zhao, A hybrid material that reversibly switches between two stable solid states. Nat. Mater. 18(8), 874–882 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41563-019-0434-0
  47. T.B.H. Schroeder, J. Aizenberg, Patterned crystal growth and heat wave generation in hydrogels. Nat. Commun. 13, 259 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-27505-z
  48. J.J. Wei, G.M. Wei, Y.H. Shang, J. Zhou, C. Wu et al., Dissolution-crystallization transition within a polymer hydrogel for a processable ultratough electrolyte. Adv. Mater. 31(30), 1900248 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.201900248
  49. X. Zhao, L.M. Peng, Y. Chen, X.J. Zha, W.D. Li et al., Phase change mediated mechanically transformative dynamic gel for intelligent control of versatile devices. Mater. Horiz. 8(4), 1230–1241 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1039/d0mh02069a
  50. Z. Kozisek, Crystallization in small droplets: competition between homogeneous and heterogeneous nucleation. J. Cryst. Growth 522, 53–60 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcrysgro.2019.06.007
  51. M. Volmer, H. Flood, Tröpfchenbildung in dämpfen. Z. Phys. Chem. 170A(1), 273–285 (1934). https://doi.org/10.1515/zpch-1934-17025
  52. L.N. Hu, H. Lu, X.J. Ma, X.D. Chen, Heterogeneous nucleation on surfaces of the three-dimensional cylindrical substrate. J. Cryst. Growth 575, 126340 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcrysgro.2021.126340
  53. M. Shanmugham, F.D. Gnanam, P. Ramasamy, Nucleation studies in supersaturated potassium dihydrogen ortho-phosphate solution and the effect of soluble impurities. J. Mater. Sci. 19(9), 2837–2844 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1007/Bf01026958
Read More
Author biographies are not available.
Statistic
Read Counter : 6138 Download : 4251

Most read articles by the same author(s)