Abstract
Electroactive hydrogels (EAHs) are receiving attention in soft robotics. 3D printing makes EAHs even more attractive, due to the diversification and elaboration of actuations. However, 3D printing needs a large amount of photoinitiator for faster printing, which makes the printed hydrogels so brittle that they cannot produce large scale 3D printing. Here, we developed a 3D printable EAH based on poly(3-sulfopropyl acrylate, potassium salt) (PSPA) using glycidyl methacrylated hyaluronic acid (GMHA) as a mechanically enhancing multileg long chain (MLLC) crosslinker. The MLLC crosslinking improved the stretchability of the PSPA-based hydrogel to 49% from 28%, while maintaining the same level of electroactivity. Additionally, the fracture toughness of the PSPA-based hydrogel remarkably increased from 11 to 40 J m-2 with crosslinking by the MLLC. Using the mechanically enhanced EAH, i.e. the GMHA-PSPA EAH, the 3D printing of elaborate structures, e.g. 'Leaning Tower of Pisa' and a hand, and their electroactuation were successfully demonstrated.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 095016 |
| Journal | Smart Materials and Structures |
| Volume | 28 |
| Issue number | 9 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2019 Aug 12 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- 3d printing
- Electroactive hydrogels
- Glycidyl methacrylated hyaluronic acid
- Poly(sulfopropyl acrylate
- Potassium salt)
- Soft actuators
- Soft robotics
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Signal Processing
- Civil and Structural Engineering
- Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics
- Materials Science(all)
- Condensed Matter Physics
- Mechanics of Materials
- Electrical and Electronic Engineering