Aquabots

Zhu，Shipei1; Xie，Ganhua2,14; Cui，Huanqing1; Li，Qingchuan1,4; Forth，Joe2,5; Yuan，Shuai1; Tian，Jingxuan1; Pan，Yi1; Guo，Wei1; Chai，Yu6; Zhang，Yage1; Yang，Zhenyu1; Yu，Ryan Wing Hei7; Yu，Yafeng1; Liu，Sihan1,8; Chao，Youchuang9; Shen，Yinan10; Zhao，Sai6; Russell，Thomas P.2,11,12,13; Shum，Ho Cheung1,3

2022

10.1021/acsnano.2c00619

ACS Nano   Impact Factor & Quartile

1936-0851

1936-086X

Soft robots, made from elastomers, easily bend and flex, but deformability constraints severely limit navigation through and within narrow, confined spaces. Using aqueous two-phase systems we print water-in-water constructs that, by aqueous phase-separation-induced self-assembly, produce ultrasoft liquid robots, termed aquabots, comprised of hierarchical structures that span in length scale from the nanoscopic to microsciopic, that are beyond the resolution limits of printing and overcome the deformability barrier. The exterior of the compartmentalized membranes is easily functionalized, for example, by binding enzymes, catalytic nanoparticles, and magnetic nanoparticles that impart sensitive magnetic responsiveness. These ultrasoft aquabots can adapt their shape for gripping and transporting objects and can be used for targeted photocatalysis, delivery, and release in confined and tortuous spaces. These biocompatible, multicompartmental, and multifunctional aquabots can be readily applied to medical micromanipulation, targeted cargo delivery, tissue engineering, and biomimetics.

All-water robotics aqueous phase separation hierarchical self-assembly multicompartmental reactors water-in-water 3D printing

SCI ; EI

English

NI Journal Papers

Others

Chemistry ; Science & Technology - Other Topics ; Materials Science

Chemistry, Multidisciplinary ; Chemistry, Physical ; Nanoscience & Nanotechnology ; Materials Science, Multidisciplinary

WOS:000848290600001

AMER CHEMICAL SOC

20223412607021

3D printers ; Biocompatibility ; Biomimetics ; Deformation ; Hierarchical systems ; Robots ; Self assembly ; Solvent extraction ; Tissue engineering

Biomedical Engineering:461.1 ; Biotechnology:461.8 ; Biology:461.9 ; Immunology:461.9.1 ; Thermodynamics:641.1 ; Robotics:731.5 ; Printing Equipment:745.1.1 ; Chemical Operations:802.3 ; Materials Science:951 ; Systems Science:961

2-s2.0-85136114442

Scopus

1.Department of Mechanical Engineering,The University of Hong Kong,999077,Hong Kong
2.Materials Sciences Division,Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory,Berkeley,94720,United States
3.Advanced Biomedical Instrumentation Centre,Hong Kong Science Park,Shatin,New Territories,999077,Hong Kong
4.School of Chemistry & Chemical Engineering,National Engineering Research Center for Colloidal Materials,Shandong University,Jinan,250100,China
5.Department of Chemistry,University College London,London,WC1H 0AJ,United Kingdom
6.Department of Physics,The City University of Hong Kong,Kowloon,83 Tat Chee Avenue,999077,Hong Kong
7.Department of Engineering,University of Cambridge,Cambridge,Trumpington Street,CB2 1PZ,United Kingdom
8.Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering,Southern University of Science and Technology,Shenzhen,518055,China
9.Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization,Göttingen,37077,Germany
10.Department of Physics,Harvard University,Cambridge,02138,United States
11.Polymer Science and Engineering Department,University of Massachusetts,Amherst,01003,United States
12.Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Soft Matter Science and Engineering,Beijing University of Chemical Technology,Beijing,100029,China
13.WPI-Advanced Institute for Materials Research,Tohoku University,Sendai,980-8577,Japan
14.College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering,Hunan University,Changsha,410082,China

Zhu，Shipei,Xie，Ganhua,Cui，Huanqing,et al. Aquabots[J]. ACS Nano,2022.

Zhu，Shipei.,Xie，Ganhua.,Cui，Huanqing.,Li，Qingchuan.,Forth，Joe.,...&Shum，Ho Cheung.(2022).Aquabots.ACS Nano.

Zhu，Shipei,et al."Aquabots".ACS Nano (2022).