Adaptive Elastin‐Like Hydrogel with Unidirectional and Controllable Anisotropic Actuation for Soft Robotics and Tissue Engineering

Advanced Materials Technologies, vol. 10

Abstract

Abstract Tissue‐mimetic scaffolds capable of actuating in response to environmental stimuli have great potential in soft robotics, especially if controllable at the molecular level. Elastin‐like recombinamers (ELRs) are biopolymers derived from natural tropoelastin intrinsically capable of responding to exogenous factors (e.g., pH, salt or temperature). A well‐designed and properly manufactured ELR scaffold should i) respond and adapt (actuate) according to external stimuli and ii) exhibit elastic properties to accommodate biomimetic actuation. However, current concepts typically use isotropic matrices, leading to isometric dimensional changes. In contrast, anisotropic actuation, a key feature in biological tissues at micro‐ and macroscopic level, allows directionally preferred responses but demands advanced design parallelled by an adequate fabrication scheme. Here, this challenge is addressed, by developing anisotropic elastin‐like scaffolds for directional, stimuli‐triggered actuation. Specifically, a fiber‐reinforced, elastin‐like tubular scaffold is developed with the capacity to actuate in an anisotropic and reversible manner in response to changes in solvent or temperature. Both the anisotropy and the degree of actuation can be efficiently controlled by changing the angle of the fiber‐reinforcement engineered within the elastin‐like matrix. The selection of the material and the straightforward fabrication make this scaffold versatile for applications that blends both soft robotics and tissue engineering.

Authors 8

1. Federica Sallustio Aachen Department of Biohybrid and Medical Textiles (BioTex) AME-Institute of Applied Medical Engineering

   Universidad de Valladolid · RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   Department of Biohybrid & Medical Textiles (BioTex) AME‐Institute of Applied Medical Engineering Helmholtz Institute, RWTH Aachen University 52074 Aachen Germany

   Technical Proteins Nanobiotechnology S.L. Edificio CTTA Campus Miguel Delibes Parque Científico, Universidad de Valladolid Valladolid 47011 Spain

   Department of Biohybrid & Medical Textiles (BioTex), AME-Institute of Applied Medical Engineering, Helmholtz Institute, RWTH Aachen University, 52074 Aachen, Germany

2. Amanda Schmidt Aachen Department of Biohybrid and Medical Textiles (BioTex) AME-Institute of Applied Medical Engineering

   RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   Department of Biohybrid & Medical Textiles (BioTex) AME‐Institute of Applied Medical Engineering Helmholtz Institute, RWTH Aachen University 52074 Aachen Germany

   Spintex Engineering Ltd Wood Centre for Innovation Oxford OX3 8SB UK

   Department of Biohybrid & Medical Textiles (BioTex), AME-Institute of Applied Medical Engineering, Helmholtz Institute, RWTH Aachen University, 52074 Aachen, Germany

   Spintex Engineering Ltd, Wood Centre for Innovation, Oxford, OX3 8SB UK

3. Ikram El Maachi Aachen Department of Biohybrid and Medical Textiles (BioTex) AME-Institute of Applied Medical Engineering

   RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   Department of Biohybrid & Medical Textiles (BioTex) AME‐Institute of Applied Medical Engineering Helmholtz Institute, RWTH Aachen University 52074 Aachen Germany

   Department of Biohybrid & Medical Textiles (BioTex), AME-Institute of Applied Medical Engineering, Helmholtz Institute, RWTH Aachen University, 52074 Aachen, Germany

4. Alexander Greenhalgh
   Affiliation as printed

   Spintex Engineering Ltd Wood Centre for Innovation Oxford OX3 8SB UK

   Spintex Engineering Ltd, Wood Centre for Innovation, Oxford, OX3 8SB UK

5. Martin Frydrych
   Affiliation as printed

   Spintex Engineering Ltd Wood Centre for Innovation Oxford OX3 8SB UK

   Spintex Engineering Ltd, Wood Centre for Innovation, Oxford, OX3 8SB UK

6. Stefan Jockenhoevel Aachen Department of Biohybrid and Medical Textiles (BioTex) AME-Institute of Applied Medical Engineering

   RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   Department of Biohybrid & Medical Textiles (BioTex) AME‐Institute of Applied Medical Engineering Helmholtz Institute, RWTH Aachen University 52074 Aachen Germany

   Department of Biohybrid & Medical Textiles (BioTex), AME-Institute of Applied Medical Engineering, Helmholtz Institute, RWTH Aachen University, 52074 Aachen, Germany

7. José Carlos Rodríguez‐Cabello corresponding

   Universidad de Valladolid · Biomedical Research Networking Center in Bioengineering, Biomaterials and Nanomedicine

   Affiliation as printed

   Bioforge Lab (Group for Advanced Materials and Nanobiotechnology) CIBER‐BBN Edificio LUCIA, Universidad de Valladolid Valladolid 47011 Spain

   Bioforge Lab (Group for Advanced Materials and Nanobiotechnology), CIBER-BBN, Edificio LUCIA, Universidad de Valladolid, Valladolid, 47011 Spain

8. Alicia Fernández‐Colino corresponding Aachen Department of Biohybrid and Medical Textiles (BioTex) AME-Institute of Applied Medical Engineering

   RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   Department of Biohybrid & Medical Textiles (BioTex) AME‐Institute of Applied Medical Engineering Helmholtz Institute, RWTH Aachen University 52074 Aachen Germany

   Department of Biohybrid & Medical Textiles (BioTex), AME-Institute of Applied Medical Engineering, Helmholtz Institute, RWTH Aachen University, 52074 Aachen, Germany