Student talent drives breakthrough in materials science

“Share Research team finds a better, simpler way to program artificial muscles for soft robots An interdisciplinary student research team at the University of Waterloo has achieved a breakthrough in materials science with the creation of a tissue-like hydrogel for artificial muscles to make soft robots move. The project was spearheaded by Negin Bouzari, a PhD candidate in chemical engineering, and involved several undergraduate students — including chemistry student Melanie Bouzanne, Micahel Ali of nanotechnology engineering and Nrushanth Suthaharan of biomedical engineering — who were brought onboard to help by her supervisor, Dr. Hamad Shahsavan. The students were hired through Waterloo’s co-op program, which enables students to pair academic learning with up to two years of paid work experience. Shahsavan describes their work, which was recently published in a leading journal in the field, as a shining example of what can be accomplished by students who are trusted and supported to tackle challenging research. “I want to encourage the undergraduate students that I teach to do research in my lab and to empower my graduate students to be research leaders,” he says. The spark for the project came while Bouzari was reading an academic review paper. 'Hidden between the lines' “I felt the idea was hidden between the lines of the introduction to that paper,” she says. “One sentence grabbed my attention. I realized that although this had been a research topic for many years, it had never been applied to the material system that we are working with.” Hydrogels are soft, biocompatible materials with great promise for developing microrobots to perform non-invasive biomedical tasks within the human body, including the gastrointestinal and reproductive tracts. The student-led research team leveraged the fact that while most of the molecules that form hydrogels do not have strong charges, some have both a negative and positive charge. Researchers combined the two types of molecules in water and put the resulting solution between two glass slides - one slide with no charge and one slide with a positive or negative charge. Charge-loving molecules move towards the slide with a charge, while charge-repellent molecules move towards the slide with no charge. When exposed to UV light, the solution turns into a solid hydrogel film with different mechanical properties. One side of the film can be soft, while the other side is stiff. Ability to bend key to potential That means the new material can bend and change shape when strategically exposed to environmental triggers such as PH changes or salinity, a property that makes it promising for use in actuators, the artificial “muscles” that make robots move. It also has self-healing properties, so pieces can be cut and pasted together to form different shapes, depending on the application. Previously, making a hydrogel capable of bending and twisting required multiple fabrication steps. With the Waterloo team’s new approach, the glass slides themselves are the programming tool. Edward Hong, a third-year nanotechnology engineering student who was also a member of the team, says its interdisciplinary makeup was one of the keys to its success, allowing students and researchers to collaborate across fields and turn complex, interconnected challenges into opportunities for discovery. “Interdisciplinary research brings complementary tools and viewpoints together, leading to creative, high-impact solutions,” he says. “Beyond innovation, working across disciplines improves communication skills and adaptability, abilities that are invaluable in both industry and academia.” Feature photo: Chemical engineering PhD student Negin Bouzari, right, holds a vial of a new hydrogel material she created with help from undergraduates including Micahel Ali, left, and Nrushanth Suthaharan. Engineering Science Co-op and Experiential Education Research Share

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