The design and fabrication of stimuli-responsive composite hydrogels with reversible shape morphing and tunable actuation speed have been of great interest. In this talk, I will discuss our recent progress in approaches to integrate functional materials (i.e., graphene oxide, nanoclay, etc) into stimuli-responsive hydrogels (i.e., poly(N-isopropylacrylamide)). These approaches provide insights into how the presence of additives and physical interactions between additives and hydrogel networks can lead to different internal structures, and thus mechanical properties. Next, I will describe how we have leveraged these insights to precisely program the 3D shapes and control the swelling-deswelling kinetics by external stimuli, and tune the mechanical properties. Lastly, I will also demonstrate how the different manufacturing processes can affect the micro/macro-structures and properties of composite hydrogels. Such stimuli-responsive shape morphing systems of composite hydrogels will allow us to understand their structure-property relationships and utilize these systems for applications ranging from soft robotics to biomedical devices.

Structure-property relationships of stimuli-responsive composite hydrogels

ACS Spring 2022

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