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Self‐Walking Gel
Author(s) -
Maeda S.,
Hara Y.,
Sakai T.,
Yoshida R.,
Hashimoto S.
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
advanced materials
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 10.707
H-Index - 527
eISSN - 1521-4095
pISSN - 0935-9648
DOI - 10.1002/adma.200700625
Subject(s) - motion (physics) , actuator , materials science , ratchet , bending , mechanism (biology) , polymer science , polymer , coupling (piping) , energy (signal processing) , nanotechnology , computer science , chemical physics , physics , composite material , artificial intelligence , quantum mechanics , chaotic
You'll never walk alone? A gel actuator that can generate autonomous motility with a wormlike motion without external driving stimuli is produced. The autonomous motion is produced by dissipating the chemical energy of an oscillating reaction occurring inside the gel. Even though the gel is completely composed of synthetic polymer, it shows an autonomous motion as if it were “alive”. By coupling this with a ratchet mechanism, the gel walks by repeatedly bending and stretching itself like a looper (see figure).