Photoresponsive hydrogel friction

Photoresponsive hydrogels are an emerging class of stimuli-responsive materials that exhibit changes in physical or chemical properties in response to light. Previous investigations have leveraged photothermal mechanisms to achieve reversible changes in hydrogel friction, although few have focused o...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Soft matter 2024-09, Vol.2 (36), p.7227-7236
Main Authors: Chau, Allison L, Karnaukh, Kseniia M, Maskiewicz, Ian, Read de Alaniz, Javier, Pitenis, Angela A
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Biomedical materials
Chemical properties
Copolymerization
Friction
Hydrogels
Irradiation
Isopropylacrylamide
Light irradiation
Mechanical properties
Photochemicals
Robotics
Spiropyrans
Sulfonic acid
Tribology
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Summary:Photoresponsive hydrogels are an emerging class of stimuli-responsive materials that exhibit changes in physical or chemical properties in response to light. Previous investigations have leveraged photothermal mechanisms to achieve reversible changes in hydrogel friction, although few have focused on photochemical means. To date, the tribological properties of photoswitchable hydrogels ( e.g. , friction and lubrication) have remained underexplored. In this work, we incorporated photoresponsive methoxy-spiropyran-methacrylate monomers (methoxy-SP-MA) into a hydrogel network to form a copolymerized system of poly( N -isopropylacrylamide- co -2-acrylamido-2-methylpropane sulfonic acid- co -methoxy-spiropyran-methacrylate) (p(NIPAAm- co -AMPS- co -SP)). We demonstrated repeatable photoresponsive changes to swelling, friction, and stiffness over three light cycles. Our findings suggest that volume changes driven by the decreased hydrophilicity of the methoxy-SP-MA upon light irradiation are responsible for differences in the mechanical and tribological properties of our photoresponsive hydrogels. Our results could inform future designs of photoswitchable hydrogels for applications ranging from biomedical applications to soft robotics. Photoresponsive hydrogels exhibit changes in their tribological, mechanical, and swelling behavior in response to light.
ISSN:1744-683X
1744-6848
1744-6848
DOI:10.1039/d4sm00677a