UC Berkeley Researchers Build Hydrogel Hand and Move Its Fingers With Laser Light
Posted on May 31, 2013
University of California, Berkeley researchers have developed a hydrogel that can be manipulated by light. The researchers say it could have future applications in the emerging field of soft robotics.
Study principal investigator Seung-Wuk Lee, associated professor of bioengineering, said in a statement, "Shape-changing gels such as ours could have applications for drug delivery and tissue engineering."
Researchers combined synthetic, elastic proteins with sheets of graphene. The graphene sheets generate heat when exposed to near infrared light. This heat affects the proteins, which absorb water when cooled and release it when hot. The two materials together formed the hydrogel. By combining the materials the researchers were able to mimic the way plant cells expand and shrink in response to light.
The researchers used the material to build a hydrogel hand and then manipulated its fingers with light. Take a look:
The research was published here in the journal Nano Letters.
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