Mucosa-Inspired Electro-Responsive Lubricating Supramolecular-Covalent Hydrogel

Abstract

Enabling the living capability of secreting liquids dynamically triggered by external stimuli while maintaining the bulk frame is a significant challenge for mucosa-inspired hydrogels. A mucosa-inspired electro-responsive hydrogel is developed in this study using the synergy between electro-responsive silk fibroin supramolecular non-covalent networks and covalent polyacrylamide and polyvinyl alcohol polymer networks. The formed supramolecular-covalent hydrogel exhibits a partial gel-sol transition upon the application of an electric field, and the liquid layer on the hydrogel surface near the cathode is used to mimic the mucus-secreting capability to regulate lubrication. The electro-responsive lubricating process can operate under a safe voltage and exhibits good reversibility. It is also a universal strategy to construct an electro-responsive hydrogel by introducing an electro-responsive supramolecular network into the polymer network. This mucosa-inspired electro-responsive supramolecular-covalent hydrogel offers a promising method for designing soft actuators or robots that can regulate lubrication using an electric strategy.