Swelling of a non-vascular-plant-inspired soft composite
Swelling of a non-vascular-plant-inspired soft composite
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DOI：
10.1016/j.matt.2021.10.015
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发表时间：
2021-12-01
期刊：
影响因子：
18.9
通讯作者：
Hutchens, Shelby B.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Kataruka, Amrita;Hutchens, Shelby B.
即使没有肌肉的帮助，植物组织也会通过肌肉驱动的流体流动来驱动大而有力的运动。水凝胶是众所周知的合成材料，其模拟这种渗透机制以实现大的溶胀变形。然而，水凝胶可能受到随着其溶胀增加而丧失刚度的限制。在这里，我们证明了一个合成的植物组织类似物（PTA）可以模仿非维管植物组织的闭细胞结构和渗透驱动，使出现膨润压力诱导的刚度，并导致更有力的肿胀变形。PTA由嵌入薄的、高度可拉伸的、选择性渗透的聚二甲基硅氧烷（PDMS）壁内的微米尺寸的盐水液滴组成。当浸入水中时，PTA达到由初始渗透剂浓度（较高产生更多溶胀）和细胞壁机械响应（较硬且较不可拉伸产生较少溶胀）控制的平衡状态。鉴于这些行为，PTA代表了另一类水性自主合成材料，如水凝胶，可能有利于生物医学应用。
Even without the aid of muscle, plant tissue drives large, forceful motion via osmosis-driven fluid flow. Hydrogels are well-known synthetic materials that mimic this osmotic mechanism to achieve large swelling deformations. However, hydrogels can be limited by a loss of stiffness as their swelling increases. Here we demonstrate that a synthetic plant tissue analog (PTA) can mimic the closed-cell structure and osmotic actuation of non-vascular plant tissue, enabling the emergence of turgor-pressure-induced stiffness and leading to more forceful swelling deformations. PTAs consist of micrometer sized saltwater droplets embedded within thin, highly stretchable, selectively permeable polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) walls. When immersed in water, PTAs reach a state of equilibrium governed by the initial osmolyte concentration (higher produces more swelling) and cell wall mechanical response (stiffer and less stretchable yields less swelling). Given these behaviors, PTAs represent an alternate class of aqueous, autonomous synthetic materials that, like hydro gels, may benefit biomedical applications.