Hydrogel-Polymer Hybrid Actuator with Tunable Deformation Behavior by Varying Lattice Skeleton

This study proposes a hydrogel-polymer hybrid actuator capable of controlling its deformation direction by tuning the mechanical properties of a polymer lattice skeleton with adjustable pillar widths. In hydrogel-polymer actuators, the deformation direction is determined by the shrinking and swelling properties of the stimuli-responsive hydrogel. These actuators exhibit reversible opening behavior in response to external stimuli. Here, this study shows that the deformation direction of the proposed hybrid actuator is determined by the polymer lattice skeleton's properties, enabling various reversible deformation behaviors under identical stimuli conditions. By adjusting the pillar width in the polymer lattice skeleton, both opening and closing behaviors were obtained from our hybrid actuator. Furthermore, similar deformation behavior was obtained in a micro-scale hybrid actuator designed for a microscopic environment.