Peristaltic gel pump driven by chemical energy

Stimuli-responsive polymer gels have been applied to soft actuators. Especially, electroactive polymers are said to be promising materials as advanced soft actuators. Its mechanical motion is controlled by the external stimuli such as a change in solvent composition, pH, temperature and electric field etc. On the other hand, living organisms exhibit an autonomous motion driven by the chemical energy. In this study, we report a novel gel pump that can move spontaneously without external driving stimuli. The gel pump converts the chemical energy of the oscillatory reaction into the mechanical energy inside the gel. Although the gel is completely composed of synthetic polymer, it shows autonomous motion as if it is alive.