An international research group led by Associate Professor Shingo Maeda of Shibaura Institute of Technology has experimentally proved that a gel such as an artificial heart driven only by chemical energy functions as an autonomous pump that does not require electronic components.
All mechatronics devices have become more complex and smaller due to the evolution of wearable devices, and the number of parts required for the devices has also increased.In the research, in order to fundamentally eliminate the complexity of these devices, the power source of the devices was replaced from electric power to chemical reactions, and the elements such as power supplies, actuators, and electronic components were replaced by the Belousov-Zhabotinsky (BZ) reaction *. We are proposing to consolidate it into a moving stimulus-responsive polymer gel (BZ gel) and simplify it.
However, until now, the amount of change in the mechanical energy of BZ gel is small, and the gel itself needs to be immersed in a chemical solution, which limits its application.Therefore, this time, we conducted a demonstration experiment so that we could propose a practical form.
First, we established a method to amplify the mechanical energy generated by the expansion and contraction of BZ gel.In the state where the BZ gel is contracted in advance, it is encapsulated together with the chemical solution to maximize the expansion amount of the BZ gel and reduce the difficulty of handling the chemical solution.Then, the movement due to the BZ reaction pressurizes the external oil through the deformation of the elastic membrane.As a result, the pressurized oil mediates mechanical energy and becomes the energy to move the liquid back and forth like an artificial heart, realizing a pump made of a single composition consisting of gel and membrane.
This pump has a high affinity with living organisms, and is expected to be applied to the medical field such as drug delivery, which automatically takes drugs.It is also expected to be used in many research fields where chemical reactions are converted into mechanical energy and used.
* A typical example of chemical vibration in the oxidation reaction of malonic acid with bromic acid using a cerium ion catalyst.
Paper information:[Scientific Reports] Autonomous oil flow generated by self-oscillating polymer gels
