Hydrogel Actuators as Responsive Instruments for Cheap Open Technology (HARICOT)

Hydrogel actuators are a class of actuators that use the swelling of a hydrogel to achieve movement. The fabrication of such actuators is usually cumbersome and, in many cases, expensive. Nowadays, sodium polyacrylate (NaPA) beads are being commercialized as toys, moisturizing agents and for decoration purposes. In this communication, we present a methodology for using commercially available hydrogel NaPA beads for the fabrication of a plethora of actuators. The here-described methodology has the advantage of being easy to implement using readily available materials and is versatile in terms of components, e.g., fabricating hydrogel/textile mixed actuator, actuator movements and cheap, a single actuator costing less than 0.1 Eurocent.

[1]  Leonid Ionov,et al.  Hydrogel-based actuators: possibilities and limitations , 2014 .

[2]  Stacey L. Harmer,et al.  Circadian regulation of sunflower heliotropism, floral orientation, and pollinator visits , 2016, Science.

[3]  E. Palleau,et al.  Reversible patterning and actuation of hydrogels by electrically assisted ionoprinting , 2013, Nature Communications.

[4]  Zhihong Nie,et al.  From nature to synthetic systems: shape transformation in soft materials. , 2014, Journal of materials chemistry. B.

[5]  C. Dawson,et al.  How pine cones open , 1997, Nature.

[6]  Bruce P. Lee,et al.  Novel Hydrogel Actuator Inspired by Reversible Mussel Adhesive Protein Chemistry , 2014, Advanced materials.

[7]  J. Peixinho,et al.  Dynamics of swelling and drying in a spherical gel , 2015, 1605.00599.

[8]  F. Barth,et al.  Biomaterial systems for mechanosensing and actuation , 2009, Nature.

[9]  Damiano Pasini,et al.  Hydro-Responsive Curling of the Resurrection Plant Selaginella lepidophylla , 2015, Scientific Reports.

[10]  H. Jerry Qi,et al.  Actuator Designs using Environmentally Responsive Hydrogels , 2008 .

[11]  D. Gracias,et al.  Photolithographically patterned smart hydrogel based bilayer actuators , 2010 .

[12]  Thakur Raghu Raj Singh,et al.  Hydrogel-Forming Microneedle Arrays for Enhanced Transdermal Drug Delivery , 2012, Advanced functional materials.

[13]  Xuanhe Zhao,et al.  Hydraulic hydrogel actuators and robots optically and sonically camouflaged in water , 2017, Nature Communications.

[14]  Bruce P. Lee,et al.  Modulating the movement of hydrogel actuator based on catechol–iron ion coordination chemistry , 2015 .

[15]  Hwan Chul Jeon,et al.  Controlled origami folding of hydrogel bilayers with sustained reversibility for robust microcarriers. , 2012, Angewandte Chemie.

[16]  H. Haslach.  A model for drying-induced microcompressions in paper: Buckling in the interfiber bonds , 1996 .

[17]  R. Hayward,et al.  Designing Responsive Buckled Surfaces by Halftone Gel Lithography , 2012, Science.

[18]  Kinjiro Miyagawa,et al.  Rate of Swelling of Sodium Polyacrylate , 1993, Handbook of Applied Polymer Processing Technology.