Anisotropic Hydrogels with Aligned Porous Structures for Light-steerable Autonomous Rolling

Jia-Xin Yu; Xin Yao; Ru-Yu Zheng; Huai-Ping Cong

doi:10.1007/s10118-026-3734-2

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Anisotropic Hydrogels with Aligned Porous Structures for Light-steerable Autonomous Rolling

RESEARCH ARTICLE | Updated：2026-09-23

- Anisotropic Hydrogels with Aligned Porous Structures for Light-steerable Autonomous Rolling
- Chinese Journal of Polymer Science Vol. 44, Issue 10, Pages: 3314-3322(2026)
- Affiliations：
  
  Anhui Province Engineering Research Center of Flexible and Intelligent Materials, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Hefei University of Technology, Hefei 230009, China
- Author bio：
  
  xinyao@hfut.edu.cn (X.Y.)
  hpcong@hfut.edu.cn (H.P.C.)
- Funds：
- DOI：10.1007/s10118-026-3734-2
  CLC：
- Received：01 April 2026，
  
  Accepted：05 May 2026，
  
  Online First：03 August 2026，
  
  Published：05 October 2026
- Accepted：
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Yu, J. X.; Yao, X.; Zheng, R. Y.; Cong, H. P. Anisotropic hydrogels with aligned porous structures for light-steerable autonomous rolling. Chinese J. Polym. Sci. 2026, 44, 3314–3322

Jia-Xin Yu, Xin Yao, Ru-Yu Zheng, et al. Anisotropic Hydrogels with Aligned Porous Structures for Light-steerable Autonomous Rolling[J]. Chinese Journal of Polymer Science, 2026, 44(10): 3314-3322.
Yu, J. X.; Yao, X.; Zheng, R. Y.; Cong, H. P. Anisotropic hydrogels with aligned porous structures for light-steerable autonomous rolling. Chinese J. Polym. Sci. 2026, 44, 3314–3322 DOI： 10.1007/s10118-026-3734-2.

Jia-Xin Yu, Xin Yao, Ru-Yu Zheng, et al. Anisotropic Hydrogels with Aligned Porous Structures for Light-steerable Autonomous Rolling[J]. Chinese Journal of Polymer Science, 2026, 44(10): 3314-3322. DOI： 10.1007/s10118-026-3734-2.

摘要

A simple strategy was developed for the fabrication of curved cylindrical hydrogels with oriented porous structures that enabled autonomous rolling under constant light irradiation

via

directional freezing assembly-assisted

in situ

photopolymerization.

Abstract

Hydrogel actuators with intrinsic softness

biocompatibility and large deformability hold great promise for extensive applications in intelligent autonomous soft robotics. However

achieving directionally controllable autonomous motion under constant stimulation remains a key challenge

primarily due to the isotropic and densely crosslinked nature of conventional hydrogel networks

which limits both directional driving forces and efficient mass transport pathways. Here

we report a simple method for the fabrication of curved cylindrical hydrogels with aligned porous channels that enable autonomous rolling under constant light irradiation

via

directional freezing assembly-assisted

in situ

photopolymerization. Benefiting from the oriented open-cell network

the hydrogel exhibited fast light-responsive deformation with bending and recovery speeds of 16.5 (°)·s

–1

and 24 (°)·s

–1

respectively. Notably

the hydrogel achieved self-sustained rolling under constant light irradiation at a speed of 0.77 mm·s

–1

arising from the synergy of structural anisotropy and geometric curvature. By spatially modulating the irradiation region

the photo-guided direction-steerable rolling could be realized. Additionally

the hydrogel implemented multiple ta

sks including obstacle crossing

stair climbing and cargo transport

highlighting its potential in biomimetic soft robotic systems.

关键词

Keywords

references

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