Programmable nanocomposites of cellulose nanocrystals and zwitterionic hydrogels for soft robotics

作者：Rasool Nasseri, Negin Bouzari, Junting Huang, H. Golzar, Sarah Jankhani, Xiaowu Tang, Tizazu H. Mekonnen, Amirreza Aghakhani, Hamed Shahsavan · 发表于：Nature Communications · 年份：2023 · DOI：10.1038/s41467-023-41874-7 · 被引用次数：142 · 研究领域：Advanced Materials and Mechanics、Micro and Nano Robotics、Hydrogels: synthesis, properties, applications

Stimuli-responsive hydrogels have garnered significant attention as a versatile class of soft actuators. Introducing anisotropic properties, and shape-change programmability to responsive hydrogels promises a host of opportunities in the development of soft robots. Herein we report the synthesis of pH-responsive hydrogel nanocomposites with predetermined microstructural anisotropy, shape-transformation, and self-healing. Our hydrogel nanocomposites are largely composed of zwitterionic monomers and asymmetric cellulose nanocrystals. While the zwitterionic nature of the network imparts both self-healing and cytocompatibility to our hydrogel nanocomposites, the shear-induced alignment of cellulose nanocrystals renders their anisotropic swelling and mechanical properties. Thanks to the self-healing properties, we utilized a cut-and-paste approach to program reversible, and complex deformation into our hydrogels. As a proof-of-concept, we demonstrated the transport of light cargo using tethered and untethered soft robots made from our hydrogels. We believe the proposed material system introduce a powerful toolbox for the development of future generations of biomedical soft robots.