Hydrogels are soft, water-rich polymeric materials that can swell or shrink in response to environmental stimuli. This ability to change shape makes them valuable in miniaturized devices for flexible ...

However, most current hydrogel pores use circular designs, which limit control over shape change and lead to unpredictable, slow actuation. They often close unevenly and recover poorly, reducing their ...

The development of engineered devices capable of harvesting the body’s mechanical motion and converting it into electricity is crucial for the functioning of bioelectronics. Mechanoelectrical energy ...

Each year, bacterial infections are responsible for roughly 7.7 million deaths worldwide, with this problem further exacerbated by rising antibiotic resistance. Not only are wound infections ...

A gelatinous substance that would otherwise be waste from a nut often used to make herbal tea can be made into a hydrogel with all different biomedical uses, University of Chicago researchers recently ...

Gelatin interacts with cells through the presence of arginine-glutamine-aspartic acid (R-G-D) sequences in its protein backbone, and it is also enzymatically degradable. 1 Gelatin is a cost-effective ...

“Natural hydrogels are used all over in society – from food processing to cosmetics – but require harvest from animals, which poses ethical concerns,” said Ashley Nguyen, the lead author of that study ...

For example, hydrogel pores can be engineered to trap and release tiny drug particles on demand. However, most current hydrogel pores use circular designs, which limit control over shape change and ...

The proposed strategy utilizes facet-and-hinge architectures to guide the swelling of facets in polygonal pores along predefined directs, enabling precise control over pore closure and restoration.