2020, Han, L., Zheng, Y., Luo, H., Feng, J., Engstler, R., Xue, L., Jing, G., Deng, X., del Campo, A., Cui, J.

A solid-to-hollow evolution in macroscopic structures is challenging in synthetic materials. A fundamentally new strategy is reported for guiding macroscopic, unidirectional shape evolution of materials without compromising the material's integrity. This strategy is based on the creation of a field with a “swelling pole” and a “shrinking pole” to drive polymers to disassemble, migrate, and resettle in the targeted region. This concept is demonstrated using dynamic hydrogels containing anchored acrylic ligands and hydrophobic long alkyl chains. Adding water molecules and ferric ions (Fe3+) to induce a swelling–shrinking field transforms the hydrogels from solid to hollow. The strategy is versatile in the generation of various closed hollow objects (for example, spheres, helix tubes, and cubes with different diameters) for different applications.

2020, Han, L., Wang, M., Prieto-López, L.O., Deng, X., Cui, J.

Adhesive hydrogels are widely applied for biological and medical purposes; however, they are generally unable to adhere to tissues under wet/underwater conditions. Herein, described is a class of novel dynamic hydrogels that shows repeatable and long-term stable underwater adhesion to various substrates including wet biological tissues. The hydrogels have Fe3+-induced hydrophobic surfaces, which are dynamic and can undergo a self-hydrophobization process to achieve strong underwater adhesion to a diverse range of dried/wet substrates without the need for additional processes or reagents. It is also demonstrated that the hydrogels can directly adhere to biological tissues in the presence of under sweat, blood, or body fluid exposure, and that the adhesion is compatible with in vivo dynamic movements. This study provides a novel strategy for fabricating underwater adhesive hydrogels for many applications, such as soft robots, wearable devices, tissue adhesives, and wound dressings.

2020, Zhao, H., Sun, Q., Zhou, J., Deng, X., Cui, J.

Space cooling and heating currently result in huge amounts of energy consumption and various environmental problems. Herein, a switching strategy is described for efficient energy-saving cooling and heating based on the dynamic cavitation of silicone coatings that can be reversibly and continuously tuned from a highly porous state to a transparent solid. In the porous state, the coatings can achieve efficient solar reflection (93%) and long-wave infrared emission (94%) to induce a subambient temperature drop of about 5 °C in hot weather (≈35 °C). In the transparent solid state, the coatings allow active sunlight permeation (95%) to induce solar heating to raise the ambient temperature from 10 to 28 °C in cold weather. The coatings are made from commercially available, cheap materials via a facile, environmentally friendly method, and are durable, reversible, and patternable. They can be applied immediately to various existed objects including rigid substrates.