_tcm18-15285.gif )
Where physics meets chemistry meets biology for fundamental soft matter research.
Highlight
Soft Matter, 2007, 3, 939 - 944, DOI: 10.1039/b703774k
Teaching hydrogels how to move like an earthworm
Lilit Yeghiazarian, Hitesh Arora, Vasile Nistor, Carlo Montemagno and Ulrich Wiesner
Breaking of symmetry is an important principle employed in nature to achieve directional movement in systems of various dimensional scales. The same principle can be utilized in engineered devices. Here we highlight recent work on directed motion and transport capacity of environmentally sensitive polymer gels. The directional motion of cylindrical hydrogels is driven by spatially and temporally controlled propagation of volume phase transitions along their length. This system could potentially be used in a wide variety of areas including biochemical test systems, targeted drug delivery and
soft
medical tools.
RSS feed