IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nat/natcom/v15y2024i1d10.1038_s41467-023-44564-6.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Programmable adhesion and morphing of protein hydrogels for underwater robots

Author

Listed:
  • Sheng-Chen Huang

    (Shanghai Jiao Tong University)

  • Ya-Jiao Zhu

    (Shanghai Jiao Tong University)

  • Xiao-Ying Huang

    (Shanghai Jiao Tong University)

  • Xiao-Xia Xia

    (Shanghai Jiao Tong University)

  • Zhi-Gang Qian

    (Shanghai Jiao Tong University)

Abstract

Soft robots capable of efficiently implementing tasks in fluid-immersed environments hold great promise for diverse applications. However, it remains challenging to achieve robotization that relies on dynamic underwater adhesion and morphing capability. Here we propose the construction of such robots with designer protein materials. Firstly, a resilin-like protein is complexed with polyoxometalate anions to form hydrogels that can rapidly switch between soft adhesive and stiff non-adhesive states in aqueous environments in response to small temperature variation. To realize remote control over dynamic adhesion and morphing, Fe3O4 nanoparticles are then integrated into the hydrogels to form soft robots with photothermal and magnetic responsiveness. These robots are demonstrated to undertake complex tasks including repairing artificial blood vessel, capturing and delivering multiple cargoes in water under cooperative control of infrared light and magnetic field. These findings pave an avenue for the creation of protein-based underwater robots with on-demand functionalities.

Suggested Citation

  • Sheng-Chen Huang & Ya-Jiao Zhu & Xiao-Ying Huang & Xiao-Xia Xia & Zhi-Gang Qian, 2024. "Programmable adhesion and morphing of protein hydrogels for underwater robots," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-11, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:15:y:2024:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-023-44564-6
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-44564-6
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-023-44564-6
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1038/s41467-023-44564-6?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Bohan Cheng & Jinhong Yu & Toma Arisawa & Koki Hayashi & Joseph J. Richardson & Yasushi Shibuta & Hirotaka Ejima, 2022. "Ultrastrong underwater adhesion on diverse substrates using non-canonical phenolic groups," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-9, December.
    2. Guorui Li & Xiangping Chen & Fanghao Zhou & Yiming Liang & Youhua Xiao & Xunuo Cao & Zhen Zhang & Mingqi Zhang & Baosheng Wu & Shunyu Yin & Yi Xu & Hongbo Fan & Zheng Chen & Wei Song & Wenjing Yang & , 2021. "Self-powered soft robot in the Mariana Trench," Nature, Nature, vol. 591(7848), pages 66-71, March.
    3. Christopher M. Elvin & Andrew G. Carr & Mickey G. Huson & Jane M. Maxwell & Roger D. Pearson & Tony Vuocolo & Nancy E. Liyou & Darren C. C. Wong & David J. Merritt & Nicholas E. Dixon, 2005. "Synthesis and properties of crosslinked recombinant pro-resilin," Nature, Nature, vol. 437(7061), pages 999-1002, October.
    4. Rajkamal Balu & Naba K. Dutta & Ankit K. Dutta & Namita Roy Choudhury, 2021. "Resilin-mimetics as a smart biomaterial platform for biomedical applications," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 12(1), pages 1-15, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Chen, Weixing & Zhou, Boen & Huang, Hao & Lu, Yunfei & Li, Shaoxun & Gao, Feng, 2022. "Design, modeling and performance analysis of a deployable WEC for ocean robots," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 327(C).
    2. Sheung Chun Ng & Abin Biswas & Trevor Huyton & Jürgen Schünemann & Simone Reber & Dirk Görlich, 2023. "Barrier properties of Nup98 FG phases ruled by FG motif identity and inter-FG spacer length," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-17, December.
    3. Zhao Pan & Qi-Qi Fu & Mo-Han Wang & Huai-Ling Gao & Liang Dong & Pu Zhou & Dong-Dong Cheng & Ying Chen & Duo-Hong Zou & Jia-Cai He & Xue Feng & Shu-Hong Yu, 2023. "Designing nanohesives for rapid, universal, and robust hydrogel adhesion," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-10, December.
    4. Jinfeng Liu & Xiangyu Gao & Haonan Jin & Kaile Ren & Jingyu Guo & Liao Qiao & Chaorui Qiu & Wei Chen & Yuhang He & Shuxiang Dong & Zhuo Xu & Fei Li, 2022. "Miniaturized electromechanical devices with multi-vibration modes achieved by orderly stacked structure with piezoelectric strain units," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-9, December.
    5. Jianjian Huang & Xiaodie Zhang & Ruixue Liu & Yonghui Ding & Dongjie Guo, 2023. "Polyvinyl chloride-based dielectric elastomer with high permittivity and low viscoelasticity for actuation and sensing," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-10, December.
    6. Chujun Ni & Di Chen & Xin Wen & Binjie Jin & Yi He & Tao Xie & Qian Zhao, 2023. "High speed underwater hydrogel robots with programmable motions powered by light," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-9, December.
    7. Yuxuan Sun & Liu Wang & Yangyang Ni & Huajian Zhang & Xiang Cui & Jiahao Li & Yinbo Zhu & Ji Liu & Shiwu Zhang & Yong Chen & Mujun Li, 2023. "3D printing of thermosets with diverse rheological and functional applicabilities," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-10, December.
    8. Le Yao & Chengjiang Lin & Xiaozheng Duan & Xiaoqing Ming & Zhixuan Chen & He Zhu & Shiping Zhu & Qi Zhang, 2023. "Autonomous underwater adhesion driven by water-induced interfacial rearrangement," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-10, December.
    9. Wenwen Feng & Lin Sun & Zhekai Jin & Lili Chen & Yuncong Liu & Hao Xu & Chao Wang, 2024. "A large-strain and ultrahigh energy density dielectric elastomer for fast moving soft robot," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-10, December.
    10. Haitao Yang & Shuo Ding & Jiahao Wang & Shuo Sun & Ruphan Swaminathan & Serene Wen Ling Ng & Xinglong Pan & Ghim Wei Ho, 2024. "Computational design of ultra-robust strain sensors for soft robot perception and autonomy," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-15, December.
    11. Yeongju Jung & Kangkyu Kwon & Jinwoo Lee & Seung Hwan Ko, 2024. "Untethered soft actuators for soft standalone robotics," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-19, December.
    12. Siqi An & Xiaowen Li & Zengrong Guo & Yi Huang & Yanlin Zhang & Hanqing Jiang, 2024. "Energy-efficient dynamic 3D metasurfaces via spatiotemporal jamming interleaved assemblies for tactile interfaces," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-14, December.
    13. Wenbo Liu & Youning Duo & Jiaqi Liu & Feiyang Yuan & Lei Li & Luchen Li & Gang Wang & Bohan Chen & Siqi Wang & Hui Yang & Yuchen Liu & Yanru Mo & Yun Wang & Bin Fang & Fuchun Sun & Xilun Ding & Chi Zh, 2022. "Touchless interactive teaching of soft robots through flexible bimodal sensory interfaces," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-14, December.
    14. Chen Xin & Zhongguo Ren & Leran Zhang & Liang Yang & Dawei Wang & Yanlei Hu & Jiawen Li & Jiaru Chu & Li Zhang & Dong Wu, 2023. "Light-triggered multi-joint microactuator fabricated by two-in-one femtosecond laser writing," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-11, December.
    15. Sonal V. Gidwani & Devarshi Brahmbhatt & Aaron Zomback & Mamie Bassie & Jennifer Martinez & Jian Zhuang & John Schulze & Jason S. McLellan & Roberto Mariani & Peter Alff & Daniela Frasca & Bonnie B. B, 2024. "Engineered dityrosine-bonding of the RSV prefusion F protein imparts stability and potency advantages," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-14, December.
    16. Elio J. Challita & Prateek Sehgal & Rodrigo Krugner & M. Saad Bhamla, 2023. "Droplet superpropulsion in an energetically constrained insect," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-9, December.
    17. Yucheng Zhang & Dekai Ye & Mengxue Li & Xi Zhang & Chong-an Di & Chao Wang, 2023. "Solid state ionics enabled ultra-sensitive detection of thermal trace with 0.001K resolution in deep sea," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-9, December.
    18. Jun Kyu Choe & Junsoo Kim & Hyeonseo Song & Joonbum Bae & Jiyun Kim, 2023. "A soft, self-sensing tensile valve for perceptive soft robots," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-10, December.
    19. Yin Zhang & Wang Zhang & Pan Gao & Xiaoqing Zhong & Wei Pu, 2022. "Finger-palm synergistic soft gripper for dynamic capture via energy harvesting and dissipation," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-12, December.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:15:y:2024:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-023-44564-6. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.nature.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.