writer：Junjie Wei*, Rui Li, Long Li, Wenqin Wang, Tao Chen*
keywords：Stimuli-responsive hydrogels; Touch stimulation; Bionic actuation; Smart materials; Supersaturated salt solution
source：期刊
specific source：Nano-Micro Letters, 2022, 14, 182
Issue time：2022年

Stimuli-responsive hydrogel is regarded as one of the most promising smart soft materials for the next-generation advanced technologies and intelligence robots, but the limited variety of stimulus has become a non-negligible issue restricting its further development. Herein, we develop a new stimulus of “touch” (i.e., spatial contact with foreign object) for smart materials and propose a flytrap-inspired touch responsive polymeric hydrogel based on supersaturated salt solution, exhibiting multiple responsive behaviors in crystallization, heat releasing, and electric signal under touch stimulation. Furthermore, utilizing flytrap-like cascade response strategy, a soft actuator with touch-responsive actuation is fabricated by employing the touch-responsive hydrogel and the thermo-responsive hydrogel. This investigation provides a facile and versatile strategy to design touch-responsive smart materials, enabling a profound potential application in intelligence areas.