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Soft robotics

Encoding autonomy in a photo- and electroactive hydrogel

Nature Reviews Materials volume 8, page 640 (2023)Cite this article

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For successful adaptation to dynamic real-world settings, the field of soft robotics requires materials capable of independent dynamic motions, replicating the complex and intelligent functionalities of biological actuators. Current synthetic actuators can perform simple tasks — such as grasping, lifting and moving — but they often rely on external control units, pre-programmed instructions and step-by-step human supervision. Now, writing in Science Advances, Samuel Stupp and colleagues present an autonomously functioning photo- and electroactive hydrogel for soft robotic applications.

“By utilizing both light and electric fields, our soft robotic hydrogels are capable of sensing and reacting to environmental obstacles and carrying a cargo to a targeted location,” adds Stupp. Based on the dielectrophoretic (DEP) effect, in which dielectric inhomogeneities in a material cause electric field fluctuations, the hydrogel can attract a high dielectric constant material — that is, perform capture, transport and release of a cargo — and bypass low dielectric constant materials — that is, navigate obstacles. The DEP force depends on the polarization vector of the high dielectric constant material (for example, a nanoparticle) and the gradient vector of the electric field. The presence of the charged hydrogel induces a variation in the electric field gradient in the medium, that contains either the cargo to be transported or the obstacles to be bypassed, which influences the direction of the DEP. Thus, the actions are only guided by the orientation of the electric field vector and field gradient (that can be modulated by changing the geometry of the charged hydrogel), without the need for external, stepwise instructions.

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References

Original article

  • Yang, Y. et al. Autonomous hydrogel locomotion regulated by light and electric fields. Sci. Adv. 9, eadi4566 (2023)

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  1. Associate Editor, Nature Reviews Electrical Engineering http://www.nature.com/natrevmats/

    Silvia Conti

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  1. Silvia Conti
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Correspondence to Silvia Conti.

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Conti, S. Encoding autonomy in a photo- and electroactive hydrogel. Nat Rev Mater 8, 640 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41578-023-00595-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41578-023-00595-5

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