A new recipe, or design guidelines, for a self-strengthening muscle-like hydrogel has been developed through strategic integration of computational, information, and experimental research. The ...

Soft robots are only as capable as the artificial muscles that drive them, and for years those muscles have forced a trade-off between strength and flexibility. A new magnetic polymer design is ...

(Nanowerk Spotlight) Artificial muscles hold the promise of revolutionizing fields ranging from robotics and prosthetics to biomedical devices. These lightweight, flexible materials can mimic the ...

A dual cross-linked magnetic polymer solves the fundamental trade-off limiting soft artificial muscles, achieving unprecedented combinations of stretchability, force output, and shape-programming ...

Scientists developed a soft fluidic switch using an ionic polymer artificial muscle that runs with ultra-low power to lift objects 34 times greater than its weight. Its light weight and small size ...

Robots using artificial polymer “muscles” are real slowpokes, as the polymers react a hundred times slower than human muscle. But in the future, robots could run circles around humans, with synthetic ...

Hydrogels are a permeable soft material consisting of polymer networks and water that are relevant for biological material applications. Professor Gong’s group at WPI-ICReDD has previously developed ...