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Shape-Changing Tubular Hydrogels
We describe the creation of hollow tubular hydrogels in which different zones along the length of the tube are composed of different gels. Our method to create these gels is adapted from a technique developed previously in our lab for creating solid hybrid hydrogels. The zones of our tubular gel are...
Autores principales: | , , |
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
MDPI
2018
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Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6318631/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30674794 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/gels4010018 |
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author | Raghavan, Srinivasa R. Fernandes, Neville J. Cipriano, Bani H. |
author_facet | Raghavan, Srinivasa R. Fernandes, Neville J. Cipriano, Bani H. |
author_sort | Raghavan, Srinivasa R. |
collection | PubMed |
description | We describe the creation of hollow tubular hydrogels in which different zones along the length of the tube are composed of different gels. Our method to create these gels is adapted from a technique developed previously in our lab for creating solid hybrid hydrogels. The zones of our tubular gel are covalently bonded at the interfaces; as a result, these interfaces are highly robust. Consequently, the tube can be picked up, manipulated and stretched without suffering any damage. The hollow nature of these gels allows them to respond 2–30-fold faster to external stimuli compared to a solid gel of identical composition. We study the case where one zone of the hybrid tube is responsive to pH (due to the incorporation of an ionic monomer) while the other zones are not. Initially, the entire tube has the same diameter, but when pH is changed, the diameter of the pH-responsive zone alone increases (i.e., this zone bulges outward) while the other zones maintain their original diameter. The net result is a drastic change in the shape of the gel, and this can be reversed by reverting the pH to its original value. Similar localized changes in gel shape are shown for two other stimuli: temperature and solvent composition. Our study points the way for researchers to design three-dimensional soft objects that can reversibly change their shape in response to stimuli. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-6318631 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2018 |
publisher | MDPI |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-63186312019-01-17 Shape-Changing Tubular Hydrogels Raghavan, Srinivasa R. Fernandes, Neville J. Cipriano, Bani H. Gels Article We describe the creation of hollow tubular hydrogels in which different zones along the length of the tube are composed of different gels. Our method to create these gels is adapted from a technique developed previously in our lab for creating solid hybrid hydrogels. The zones of our tubular gel are covalently bonded at the interfaces; as a result, these interfaces are highly robust. Consequently, the tube can be picked up, manipulated and stretched without suffering any damage. The hollow nature of these gels allows them to respond 2–30-fold faster to external stimuli compared to a solid gel of identical composition. We study the case where one zone of the hybrid tube is responsive to pH (due to the incorporation of an ionic monomer) while the other zones are not. Initially, the entire tube has the same diameter, but when pH is changed, the diameter of the pH-responsive zone alone increases (i.e., this zone bulges outward) while the other zones maintain their original diameter. The net result is a drastic change in the shape of the gel, and this can be reversed by reverting the pH to its original value. Similar localized changes in gel shape are shown for two other stimuli: temperature and solvent composition. Our study points the way for researchers to design three-dimensional soft objects that can reversibly change their shape in response to stimuli. MDPI 2018-02-22 /pmc/articles/PMC6318631/ /pubmed/30674794 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/gels4010018 Text en © 2018 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). |
spellingShingle | Article Raghavan, Srinivasa R. Fernandes, Neville J. Cipriano, Bani H. Shape-Changing Tubular Hydrogels |
title | Shape-Changing Tubular Hydrogels |
title_full | Shape-Changing Tubular Hydrogels |
title_fullStr | Shape-Changing Tubular Hydrogels |
title_full_unstemmed | Shape-Changing Tubular Hydrogels |
title_short | Shape-Changing Tubular Hydrogels |
title_sort | shape-changing tubular hydrogels |
topic | Article |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6318631/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30674794 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/gels4010018 |
work_keys_str_mv | AT raghavansrinivasar shapechangingtubularhydrogels AT fernandesnevillej shapechangingtubularhydrogels AT ciprianobanih shapechangingtubularhydrogels |