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Peristaltic Motion of Polymer Gels
Author(s) -
Maeda Shingo,
Hara Yusuke,
Yoshida Ryo,
Hashimoto Shuji
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
angewandte chemie international edition
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.831
H-Index - 550
eISSN - 1521-3773
pISSN - 1433-7851
DOI - 10.1002/anie.200801347
Subject(s) - motion (physics) , peristalsis , polymer , content (measure theory) , polymer science , nanotechnology , computer science , chemistry , materials science , artificial intelligence , composite material , mathematics , biochemistry , mathematical analysis
It's alive! A polymer gel has been developed that can generate a peristaltic motion without external stimuli. The motion is produced by dissipating the chemical energy of an oscillating reaction that occurs inside the gel. Although the gel is solely composed of a synthetic polymer, it shows independent motion as if it were alive. The motion of the gel can be harnessed to transport objects with millimeter dimensions (see picture).