, Virginia Tech physicists revealed a microscopic phenomenon that could greatly improve the performance of soft devices, such as agile flexible robots or microscopic capsules for drug delivery.
Akin to our own body, hydrogels mostly contain water and are everywhere around us, e.g., food jelly and shaving gel. Katke, Korevaar, and Kaplan's research appears to have found a method that allows hydrogels to swell and contract much more quickly, which would improve their flexibility and capability to function in different settings.
Katke, Korevaar, and Kaplan developed a new theory to explain the above observation. This theory tells that microscopic interactions between ions and polyacrylic acid can make hydrogel swell when the released ions inside the hydrogel are unevenly spread out. They called this"diffusio-phoretic swelling of the hydrogels." Furthermore, this newly discovered mechanism allows hydrogels to swell much faster than what has been previously possible.
At present, only microscopic-sized hydrogel robots can respond to a chemical signal quickly enough to be useful and larger ones require hours to change shape, Katke said. By using the new diffusio-phoresis method, soft robots as large as a centimeter may be able to transform in just a few seconds, which is subject to further studies.
Nature Of Water Robotics Research Chemistry Robotics Artificial Intelligence Mathematics Mobile Computing
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Source: IntEngineering - 🏆 287. / 63 Read more »
Source: futurism - 🏆 85. / 68 Read more »
Source: ScienceDaily - 🏆 452. / 53 Read more »
Source: ScienceAlert - 🏆 63. / 68 Read more »
Source: ScienceAlert - 🏆 63. / 68 Read more »
Source: ScienceAlert - 🏆 63. / 68 Read more »