Center for Complex and Active Materials, University of California Irvine, Irvine, California92697, United States.
Department of Chemistry, University of California Irvine, Irvine, California92697, United States.
J Am Chem Soc. 2023 Feb 15;145(6):3727-3735. doi: 10.1021/jacs.2c13140. Epub 2023 Feb 6.
The importance and prevalence of energy-fueled active materials in living systems have inspired the design of synthetic active materials using various fuels. However, several major limitations of current designs remain to be addressed, such as the accumulation of chemical wastes during the process, unsustainable active behavior, and the lack of precise spatiotemporal control. Here, we demonstrate a fully electrically fueled (e-fueled) active self-assembly material that can overcome the aforementioned limitations. Using an electrochemical setup with dual electrocatalysts, the anodic oxidation of one electrocatalyst (ferrocyanide, [Fe(CN)]) creates a positive fuel to activate the self-assembly, while simultaneously, the cathodic reduction of the other electrocatalyst (methyl viologen, [MV]) generates a negative fuel triggering fiber disassembly. Due to the fully catalytic nature for the reaction networks, this fully e-fueled active material system does not generate any chemical waste, can sustain active behavior for an extended period when the electrical potential is maintained, and provides spatiotemporal control.
在生命系统中，能量燃料型活性材料的重要性和普遍性激发了人们使用各种燃料来设计合成活性材料。然而，目前的设计仍存在几个主要的局限性，例如在反应过程中会积累化学废物、活性行为不可持续以及缺乏精确的时空控制。在这里，我们展示了一种完全用电（e-燃料）驱动的主动自组装材料，它可以克服上述局限性。使用带有双电催化剂的电化学装置，一个电催化剂（亚铁氰化物，[Fe(CN)])的阳极氧化产生正燃料以激活自组装，同时，另一个电催化剂（甲紫精，[MV])的阴极还原生成负燃料引发纤维解组装。由于反应网络具有完全的催化性质，这种完全用电驱动的活性材料系统不会产生任何化学废物，当保持电势时可以维持长时间的活性行为，并提供时空控制。
