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Cover Picture: Polymer‐Based Muscle Expansion and Contraction (Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 39/2013)
Author(s) -
Islam Molla R.,
Li Xue,
Smyth Keady,
Serpe Michael J.
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
angewandte chemie international edition
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Reports
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.831
H-Index - 550
eISSN - 1521-3773
pISSN - 1433-7851
DOI - 10.1002/anie.201306440
Subject(s) - polyelectrolyte , polymer , materials science , substrate (aquarium) , chemical engineering , polymer chemistry , nanotechnology , composite material , oceanography , engineering , geology
Humidity‐responsive polymer‐based muscles were fabricated by exploiting charged microgel and polyelectrolyte interactions as is shown by M. J. Serpe and co‐workers in their Communication on page 10330 ff. Favorable interactions between microgels and polyelectrolytes and microgels and a flexible substrate allow the substrate to bend in a manner that depends on environmental humidity. The resulting actuator, or muscle, is able to lift many times its mass in a reproducible manner.