A Pendulum-Like Motion of Nanofiber Gel Actuator Synchronized with External Periodic pH Oscillation

Polymers

Hiroki Nakagawa²  Yusuke Hara¹  Shingo Maeda² 

[1] Nanosystem Research Institute (NRI), National Institute of Advanced Science and Technology (AIST), Central 5-2, 1-1-1 Higashi, Tsukuba 305-8565, Japan;Department of Applied Physics, Graduate School of Science and Engineering, Waseda University, 3-4-1 Okubo Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 169-8555, Japan; E-Mails:

关键词: nanofiber;    electrospinning;    actuator;    gel;    polymer;   

DOI  :  10.3390/polym3010405

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

In this study, we succeeded in manufacturing a novel nanofiber hydrogel actuator that caused a bending and stretching motion synchronized with external pH oscillation, based on a bromate/sulfite/ferrocyanide reaction. The novel nanofiber gel actuator was composed of electrospun nanofibers synthesized by copolymerizing acrylic acid and hydrophobic butyl methacrylate as a solubility control site. By changing the electrospinning flow rate, the nanofiber gel actuator introduced an anisotropic internal structure into the gel. Therefore, the unsymmetrical motion of the nanofiber actuator was generated.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2011 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.