Artificial skin can heal wounds and make robots sweat
Circa 2020
Imagine a dressing which releases antibiotics when needed and absorbs excess wound exudate all at once. Researchers at Eindhoven University of Technology are hoping to do just that by developing a coating that releases and absorbs fluids in response to a radio signal. This material has many uses, not just in the medical industry. It is also promising for robotics and virtual reality.
The skins of animals inspire Danqing Liu from TU/e, the lead author of the paper and Yuanyuan Zhan, her PhD student. The skin of humans secretes sweat to regulate body temperature and oil to protect against bacteria. The skin of a fish secretes mucus to reduce friction in the water and help it swim faster. Liu presents a new artificial skin, a surface with the ability to actively and repeatedly release substances and reabsorb them under environmental stimuli. In this case, radio waves. This is a unique feature, since most smart materials are only passively released.
There are many potential applications. This type of dressing could be used to regulate drug delivery. It would allow a patient to receive a medication on demand for a long period and then \”re-load\” with another drug. Robots can use this layer of skin as a cooling mechanism, reducing the need for ventilators. When needed, machines could release lubricant onto mechanical parts. Advanced controllers could be designed for virtual reality games that can get wet or dried to enhance human perception.
Liquid-crystal molecules are the basis for the material. LCD screens are well known as liquid-crystal molecules. These molecules possess so-called responsive qualities. Liu: \”You can imagine this as a material for communication.\” Her team, at the Department of Chemical Engineering and Chemistry, discovered that liquid-crystal molecule reacts to radio waves. The molecules will twist when the radio waves are activated to match the direction of the waves.
Source:
https://www.tue.nl/en/news/news-overview/24-06-2020-artificial-skin-heals-wounds-and-makes-robots-sweat
