Responsive biomimicking materials*

The complex behaviors of living systems stem from their ability to sense and respond to their surrounding environment. Active materials equipped with such sensory mechanisms and shape-morphing capabilities can allow us to create devices that are inherently smart. One such class of materials is hydrogels functionalized with active components such as spiropyran hydrogels with embedded magnetic nanowires which interact with both light and magnetic fields [1]. Our continuum models quantitatively study these interactions and allow us to create controllable soft robots capable of walking and swimming. The interplay between the photochemistry and magnetoelasticity of the hydrogel material, and its hydrodynamic interaction with the surrounding fluid impart phototactic properties to these swimmers. Furthermore, we design autonomous devices by utilizing materials that convert chemical into mechanical energy and vice versa, [2]. Our models describe systems where the chemical reaction, the hydrogel mechanics, and the solvent diffusion inside the material are integrated and provide guidelines to develop multisensory, synthetic materials.