Abstract
This study describes stimuli-responsive hydrogel micro-actuators for compressive/expanding actuation of stimuli-responsive hydrogels. Inspired by living bioactuators such as a stalk in vorticella, we applied this spring-shaped structure to engineered stimuli-responsive hydrogel actuators to magnify its degree of deformation. We achieved the shrinkage degree of ∼0.2, which is the approximately 2 time smaller than that of bulk hydrogel material (shrinkage degree ∼0.4), without any modification of molecules. Furthermore, both compression and expansion motions were demonstrated by changing the pattern of stimuli-responsive part in the microsprings, indicating that our approach could enable wide variety of motions by their patterning condition of microsprings. Our large compression/expansion stimuli-responsive hydrogel microsprings have immense potential to be applied in various microengineering products including soft actuators, chemical sensors, and medical applications.
| Original language | English |
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| Title of host publication | 2018 IEEE Micro Electro Mechanical Systems, MEMS 2018 |
| Publisher | Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc. |
| Pages | 579-580 |
| Number of pages | 2 |
| Volume | 2018-January |
| ISBN (Electronic) | 9781538647820 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2018 Apr 24 |
| Event | 31st IEEE International Conference on Micro Electro Mechanical Systems, MEMS 2018 - Belfast, United Kingdom Duration: 2018 Jan 21 → 2018 Jan 25 |
Other
| Other | 31st IEEE International Conference on Micro Electro Mechanical Systems, MEMS 2018 |
|---|---|
| Country | United Kingdom |
| City | Belfast |
| Period | 18/1/21 → 18/1/25 |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials
- Condensed Matter Physics
- Mechanical Engineering
- Electrical and Electronic Engineering