Design of Autonomous Gel Actuators
Open Access
- 11 January 2011
- Vol. 3 (1), 299-313
- https://doi.org/10.3390/polym3010299
Abstract
In this paper, we introduce autonomous gel actuators driven by chemical energy. The polymer gels prepared here have cyclic chemical reaction networks. With a cyclic reaction, the polymer gels generate periodical motion. The periodic motion of the gel is produced by the chemical energy of the oscillatory Belouzov-Zhabotinsky (BZ) reaction. We have succeeded in making synthetic polymer gel move autonomously like a living organism. This experimental fact represents the great possibility of the chemical robot.Keywords
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