Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39044713›Full record

ArticleSmall methods2025

Hybrid Zwitterionic Hydrogels with Encoded Differential Swelling and Programmed Deformation for Small-Scale Robotics.

Negin Bouzari, Rasool Nasseri, Junting Huang, Sayan Ganguly, Xiaowu Shirley Tang, Tizazu H Mekonnen, Amirreza Aghakhani, Hamed Shahsavan

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Small methods, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors.

Negin BouzariDepartment of Chemical Engineering, Waterloo Institute for Nanotechnology, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, N2L 3G1, Canada.ORCID https://orcid.org/0009-0005-2985-3968
Rasool NasseriDepartment of Chemical Engineering, Waterloo Institute for Nanotechnology, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, N2L 3G1, Canada.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2140-1359
Junting HuangDepartment of Chemical Engineering, Waterloo Institute for Nanotechnology, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, N2L 3G1, Canada.
Sayan GangulyDepartment of Chemistry, Waterloo Institute for Nanotechnology, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, N2L 3G1, Canada.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7846-6677
Xiaowu Shirley TangDepartment of Chemistry, Waterloo Institute for Nanotechnology, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, N2L 3G1, Canada.
Tizazu H MekonnenDepartment of Chemical Engineering, Waterloo Institute for Nanotechnology, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, N2L 3G1, Canada.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9649-329X
Amirreza AghakhaniInstitute of Biomaterials and Biomolecular Systems (IBBS), University of Stuttgart, Pfaffenwaldring 57, 70569, Stuttgart, Germany.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4301-4053
Hamed ShahsavanDepartment of Chemical Engineering, Waterloo Institute for Nanotechnology, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, N2L 3G1, Canada.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1498-5114

Funding

Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Stimuli-responsive shape-morphing hydrogels with self-healing and tunable physiochemical properties are excellent candidates for functional building blocks of untethered small-scale soft robots. With mechanical properties similar to soft organs and tissues, such robots enable minimally invasive medical procedures, such as cargo/cell transportation. In this work, responsive hydrogels based on zwitterionic/acrylate chemistry with self-healing and stimuli-responsiveness are synthesized. Such hydrogels are then judiciously cut and pasted to form hybrid constructs with predetermined swelling and elastic anisotropy. This method is used to program hydrogel constructs with predetermined 2D-to-3D deformation upon exposure to different environmental ionic strengths. Untethered soft robotic functionalities are demonstrated, such as actuation, magnetic locomotion, and targeted transport of soft and light cargo in flooded media. The proposed hydrogel expands the repertoire of functional materials for fabricating small-scale soft robots.

Indexed as

bilayerhydrogelprogrammable shape‐morphingself‐healingsmall‐scale roboticszwitterionic

Identifiers

PMID39044713
PMCPMC11926519

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.