Issue 47, 2023

Designing strong, fast, high-performance hydrogel actuators

Abstract

Hydrogel actuators displaying programmable shape transformations are particularly attractive for integration into future soft robotics with safe human–machine interactions. However, these materials are still in their infancy, and many significant challenges remain presenting impediments to their practical implementation, including poor mechanical properties, slow actuation speed and limited actuation performance. In this review, we discuss the recent advances in hydrogel designs to address these critical limitations. First, the material design concepts to improve mechanical properties of hydrogel actuators will be introduced. Examples are also included to highlight strategies to realize fast actuation speed. In addition, recent progress about creating strong and fast hydrogel actuators are sumarized. Finally, a discussion of different methods to realize high values in several aspects of actuation performance metrics for this class of materials is provided. The advances and challenges discussed in this highlight could provide useful guidelines for rational design to manipulate the properties of hydrogel actuators toward widespread real-world applications.

Graphical abstract: Designing strong, fast, high-performance hydrogel actuators

Article information

Article type
Highlight
Submitted
30 mar 2023
Accepted
09 mai 2023
First published
10 mai 2023

Chem. Commun., 2023,59, 7141-7150

Designing strong, fast, high-performance hydrogel actuators

B. Bin Asghar Abbasi, M. Gigliotti, S. Aloko, M. A. Jolfaei, G. M. Spinks and Z. Jiang, Chem. Commun., 2023, 59, 7141 DOI: 10.1039/D3CC01545A

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements