POLYMER GEL WITH ELECTRICALLY DRIVEN MOTILITY RESEMBLES MUSCLE MOVEMENT

A system based on a synthetic polymer gel that can convert chemical energy to mechanical energy could serve as an actuator or an artificial muscle, according to scientists at Ibaraki University in Japan.

Yoshihito Osada, Hidenori Okuzaki and Hirofumi Hori describe the chemomechanical system in Nature, volume 355, p.242 -3. The electrically driven 'muscle' is made of water-swollen synthetic polymer gel. The principle of the gel's motility lies in a reversible and cooperative complexing of surfactant molecules on the polymer gel in an electric field. Crosslinking bridges in the gel cause changes in molecular conformation to accumulate which leads to macroscopic shape …