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Synthesis And Integration Of Oligoviologens Into Hydrogel Actuators, Kevin Liles

Arts & Sciences Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Interest in the development of soft-material artificial molecular muscles has inspired scientists to pursue novel stimuli-responsive systems capable of undergoing change in the physical and mechanical properties of a material in response to external stimuli. This interest has been driven primarily by advances, or the desire for advances, in fields such as soft robotics, microfluidics, and bio-compatible drug-delivery systems. In this work, redox-responsive viologens and their ability to form stable radical-cation complexes were evaluated as a method of actuation in stimuli-responsive materials, specifically hydrogels.

First, a brief overview of hydrogel actuators is covered, with some examples given of the broad …