News Release

Tiny, caterpillar-like soft robot folds, rolls, grabs and degrades (video)

Peer-Reviewed Publication

American Chemical Society

Tiny, caterpillar-like soft robot folds, rolls, grabs and degrades

image: This soft magnetic millirobot can fold, roll and grab with its caterpillar-inspired legs. view more 

Credit: American Chemical Society

When you hear the term “robot,” you might think of complicated machinery working in factories or roving on other planets. But “millirobots” might change that. They’re robots about as wide as a finger that someday could deliver drugs or perform minimally invasive surgery. Now, researchers reporting in ACS Applied Polymer Materials have developed a soft, biodegradable, magnetic millirobot inspired by the walking and grabbing capabilities of insects. Watch a video of the bioinspired robot here.

Some soft millirobots are already being developed for a variety of biomedical applications, thanks to their small size and ability to be powered externally, often by a magnetic field. Their unique structures allow them to inch or roll themselves through the bumpy tissues of our gastrointestinal tract, for example. They could someday even be coated in a drug solution and deliver the medicine exactly where it’s needed in the body. However, most millirobots are made of non-degradable materials, such as silicone, which means they’d have to be surgically removed if used in clinical applications. In addition, these materials aren’t that flexible and don’t allow for much fine-tuning of the robot’s properties, limiting their adaptability. So, Wanfeng Shang, Yajing Shen and colleagues wanted to create a millirobot out of soft, biodegradable materials that can grab, roll and climb, but then easily dissolve away after its job is done.

As a proof of concept, the researchers created a millirobot using a gelatin solution mixed with iron oxide microparticles. Placing the material above a permanent magnet caused the microparticles in the solution to push the gel outward, forming insect-like “legs” along the lines of the magnetic field. Then, the hydrogel was placed in the cold to make it more solid. The final step was to soak the material in ammonium sulfate to cause cross-linking in the hydrogel, making it even stronger. Changing various factors, such as the composition of the ammonium sulfate solution, the thickness of the gel or the strength of the magnetic field allowed the researchers to tune the properties. For example, placing the hydrogel farther away from the magnet resulted in fewer, but longer, legs.

Because the iron oxide microparticles form magnetic chains within the gel, moving a magnet near the hydrogel caused the legs to bend and produce a claw-like grasping motion. In experiments, the material gripped a 3D-printed cylinder and a rubber band and carried each one to new locations. In addition, the researchers tested the millirobot’s ability to deliver a drug by coating it in a dye solution, then rolling it through a stomach model. Once at its destination, the robot unfurled and released the dye with the strategic use of magnets. Since it’s made using water-soluble gelatin, the millirobot easily degraded in water in two days, leaving behind only the tiny magnetic particles. The researchers say that the new millirobot could open up new possibilities for drug delivery and other biomedical applications.

The authors acknowledge funding from the National Natural Science Foundation of China, Hong Kong RGC General Research Fund and Shenzhen Key Basic Research Project.

The American Chemical Society (ACS) is a nonprofit organization chartered by the U.S. Congress. ACS’ mission is to advance the broader chemistry enterprise and its practitioners for the benefit of Earth and all its people. The Society is a global leader in promoting excellence in science education and providing access to chemistry-related information and research through its multiple research solutions, peer-reviewed journals, scientific conferences, eBooks and weekly news periodical Chemical & Engineering News. ACS journals are among the most cited, most trusted and most read within the scientific literature; however, ACS itself does not conduct chemical research. As a leader in scientific information solutions, its CAS division partners with global innovators to accelerate breakthroughs by curating, connecting and analyzing the world’s scientific knowledge. ACS’ main offices are in Washington, D.C., and Columbus, Ohio.

To automatically receive news releases from the American Chemical Society, contact newsroom@acs.org.

Follow us: Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn | Instagram


Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert system.