Electronically Programmable, Reversible Shape Change in Two- and Three-Dimensional Hydrogel Structures

1. Cunjiang Yu¹, 
2. Zheng Duan², 
3. Peixi Yuan³,
4. Yuhang Li⁵, 
5. Yewang Su^4,5, 
6. Xun Zhang¹,
7. Yuping Pan², 
8. Lenore L. Dai⁶, 
9. Ralph G. Nuzzo⁷, 
10. Yonggang Huang⁸, 
11. Hanqing Jiang^9,*, 
12. John A. Rogers^10,*

Article first published online: 19 DEC 2012

DOI: 10.1002/adma.201204180

Combining compliant electrode arrays in open-mesh constructs with hydrogels yields a class of soft actuator, capable of complex, programmable changes in shape. The results include materials strategies, integration approaches, and mechanical/thermal analysis of heater meshes embedded in thermoresponsive poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (pNIPAM) hydrogels with forms ranging from 2D sheets to 3D hemispherical shells.