Yang Yang, Li Chuang, Palmer Liam C, Stupp Samuel I
Center for Bio-Inspired Energy Science, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208, USA.
Department of Chemistry, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208, USA.
Sci Adv. 2023 Aug 2;9(31):eadi4566. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.adi4566.
Autonomous robotic functions in materials beyond simple stimulus-response actuation require the development of functional soft matter that can complete well-organized tasks without step-by-step control. We report the design of photo- and electroactivated hydrogels that can capture and deliver cargo, avoid obstacles, and return without external, stepwise control. By incorporating two spiropyran monomers with different chemical substituents in the hydrogel, we created chemically random networks that enabled photoregulated charge reversal and autonomous behaviors under a constant electric field. In addition, using perturbations in the electric field induced by a dielectric inhomogeneity, the hydrogel could be attracted to high dielectric constant materials and autonomously bypasses the low dielectric constant materials under the guidance of the electric field vector. The photo- and electroactive hydrogels investigated here can autonomously perform tasks using constant external stimuli, an encouraging observation for the potential development of molecularly designed intelligent robotic materials.
在材料中实现超越简单刺激-响应驱动的自主机器人功能，需要开发能够在无需逐步控制的情况下完成组织良好任务的功能性软物质。我们报告了光激活和电激活水凝胶的设计，这种水凝胶可以捕获和运送货物、避开障碍物，并且在没有外部逐步控制的情况下返回。通过在水凝胶中掺入两种具有不同化学取代基的螺吡喃单体，我们创建了化学随机网络，该网络能够在恒定电场下实现光调节电荷反转和自主行为。此外，利用由介电不均匀性引起的电场扰动，水凝胶可以被高介电常数材料吸引，并在电场矢量的引导下自动绕过低介电常数材料。本文研究的光活性和电活性水凝胶可以使用恒定的外部刺激自主执行任务，这对于分子设计的智能机器人材料的潜在发展是一个令人鼓舞的观察结果。
