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  • RESEARCH HIGHLIGHT

A slimy self-healing gel helps a robotic snail to slither

The chemical bonds in a stretchy gel quickly reform if the material is severed.
A snail-inspired soft robot moves along a reflective surface.

A 0.5-centimetre-long strip of self-healing, conductive gel (silver) links the battery and the motor of a robotic snail. Credit: Y. Zhao et al./Nature Electron.

A robotic snail can slither over surfaces and spontaneously fix itself when damaged, thanks to one of its main components: a self-healing, electrically conducting hydrogel1.

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Nature 615, 565 (2023)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-023-00750-6

References

  1. Zhao, Y. et al. Nature Electron. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41928-023-00932-0 (2023).

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