"Stumbling-to-Fetters" mechanism and Virginia Creeper model in hydrogel for designing bionic cardiovascular system

TL;DR

This paper introduces the Virginia Creeper model for hydrogels, elucidating mechanisms of structural non-uniformity and electrochemical behavior, and demonstrates its application in designing a bio-compatible cardiovascular system.

Contribution

It presents the Virginia Creeper model and a molecular-ion diffusion equation, advancing understanding of hydrogel electrochemistry and enabling bioelectric device development.

Findings

Ion diffusion exhibits 'Stumbling-to-Fetters' behavior influenced by functional groups.

External electric fields induce hydrogel orientation, affecting properties.

The VC model effectively predicts hydrogel electrochemical behavior and guides device design.

Abstract

Manufacturing hydrogels with identical electrochemical properties are typically riddled with unresolved inquiries and challenges. Here, we utilized ultra-light graphene flakes to trace the influence of convection phenomena during reactions on hydrogels' formation and structural non-uniformity, elucidating its mechanisms. Furthermore, we confirmed that an external electric field induced the orientation of functional groups of hydrogels along the direction of this field, revealing the mechanism of its influence on the structural non-uniformity and electrochemical properties of hydrogels. Additionally, we discovered that ion diffusion was "Stumbling-to-Fetters" by the functional groups on the polymer chains within the hydrogel, unveiling this mechanism and developing the Virginia Creeper (VC) model for hydrogels. We demonstrated the scalability and application of the VC model. Furthermore, we proposed a molecular-ion diffusion and current decay equation to describe the electrochemical properties of hydrogels. As an application of the VC model, we developed a bionic cardiovascular system and proved its potential to seamlessly interface with living organisms and generate bio-like bioelectricity. Our findings provide novel insights into triboelectricity and guidance for producing hydrogels with identical electrochemical properties, and offer a new pathway for bioelectric generation and the design of new hydrogel devices.