Autonomous Motion of Hydrogels Driven by Semi-Interpenetrating\nChemical Processing Systems

Developing\nartificial autonomous materials is crucial for a deeper\nunderstanding of the emergence of life-like behavior. In nature, cells\nachieve autonomy through chemical processing systems incorporated\ninto soft material-based frameworks. Inspired by natural cells, we\nherein describe a straightforward methodology for constructing artificial\nautonomous materials consisting of a polymer-based chemical processing\nsystem and a hydrogel-based soft framework. Using a material comprising\na hydrogel framework devoid of active components in combination with\nsemi-interpenetrating self-oscillating linear polymers, we discovered\nthat semi-interpenetrating polymer-based chemical processing systems\ndrive the autonomous motion of the hydrogel framework. The material\nexhibited autonomous volumetric oscillation powered by the Belousov–Zhabotinsky\nreaction. Furthermore, the autonomous behavior is controllable by\nchanging the content of the chemical processing system incorporated\ninto the hydrogel framework. Our findings shed light on a class of\nautonomous materials based on polymer-based chemical processing systems\nwith soft frameworks.