Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40435259›Full record

ArticleScience advances2025

A photo-mechanically inactive tough gel exhibits multimodal, light-guided underwater navigation.

Guodong Hou, Xuning Wang, Feiyu Zhang, Wei Lu, Xin Chen, Tiannan Yang, Guang Meng, Xiaoshi Qian

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Science advances, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing 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

4 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Floatable and Integrated Shape-shifting Hydrogel Carrier.Advanced materials (Deerfield Beach, Fla.) · 2026
    Article
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Gel-Based Ionic Circuits.Chemical reviews · 2025
    Review
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.

Guodong HouState Key Laboratory of Mechanical System and Vibration, Interdisciplinary Research Center, Institute of Refrigeration and Cryogenics, and MOE Key Laboratory for Power Machinery and Engineering, School of Mechanical Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China.ORCID 0009-0008-2571-9480
Xuning WangState Key Laboratory of Mechanical System and Vibration, Interdisciplinary Research Center, Institute of Refrigeration and Cryogenics, and MOE Key Laboratory for Power Machinery and Engineering, School of Mechanical Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China.
Feiyu ZhangState Key Laboratory of Mechanical System and Vibration, Interdisciplinary Research Center, Institute of Refrigeration and Cryogenics, and MOE Key Laboratory for Power Machinery and Engineering, School of Mechanical Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China.
Wei LuState Key Laboratory of Mechanical System and Vibration, Interdisciplinary Research Center, Institute of Refrigeration and Cryogenics, and MOE Key Laboratory for Power Machinery and Engineering, School of Mechanical Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China.
Xin ChenState Key Laboratory of Mechanical System and Vibration, Interdisciplinary Research Center, Institute of Refrigeration and Cryogenics, and MOE Key Laboratory for Power Machinery and Engineering, School of Mechanical Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China.ORCID 0000-0001-8213-4704
Tiannan YangState Key Laboratory of Mechanical System and Vibration, Interdisciplinary Research Center, Institute of Refrigeration and Cryogenics, and MOE Key Laboratory for Power Machinery and Engineering, School of Mechanical Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China.ORCID 0000-0002-2071-4778
Guang MengState Key Laboratory of Mechanical System and Vibration, Interdisciplinary Research Center, Institute of Refrigeration and Cryogenics, and MOE Key Laboratory for Power Machinery and Engineering, School of Mechanical Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China.
Xiaoshi QianState Key Laboratory of Mechanical System and Vibration, Interdisciplinary Research Center, Institute of Refrigeration and Cryogenics, and MOE Key Laboratory for Power Machinery and Engineering, School of Mechanical Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China.ORCID 0000-0003-3487-7567

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Soft robots exhibit flexural and active features that enabled their potential deployment in applications where rigid systems could not perform well. However, the locomotion of the soft robots still largely relies on the paddling that requires variety of active materials as artificial muscles. Hence, extreme conditions, i.e., under compressive or tensile loads, can cause irreversible damages that disable the actuation. Here, we report a tough underwater robot that exhibits an accurate, three-dimensional, and multimodal motion. Counterintuitively, the soft robot is composed of polymers that are not photo-mechanically responsive but are powered by the ambient fluid. The unique feature notably widens the pool of material selection and allows further treatment to strengthen the polymer matrix without concerns of trade-off between the mechanical properties with the actuation capability. The tough, photo-inactive gel maneuvers precisely, traveling effortlessly in and out of the tunnels, and enables versatile phototactic locomotion.

Identifiers

PMID40435259
PMCPMC12118629

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC
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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.