Issue

Vol. 18 (2026)

High-Strength, Self-Sensing Multiphase Hydrogels for Load-Bearing Actuation and Logical Human–Machine Interaction

https://doi.org/10.1007/s40820-026-02280-y
Zhilin Zhang
Department of Chemistry, College of Sciences, Northeastern University, Shenyang 110819, People’s Republic of China
Jiayi Gu
Department of Chemistry, College of Sciences, Northeastern University, Shenyang 110819, People’s Republic of China
Lina Wang
College of Medicine and Biological Information Engineering, Northeastern University, Shenyang 110169, People’s Republic of China
Xingchen Cui
Department of Chemistry, College of Sciences, Northeastern University, Shenyang 110819, People’s Republic of China
Xu Zhai
School of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Sichuan University of Science and Engineering, Zigong 643000, People’s Republic of China
Yue Xu
Department of Chemistry, College of Sciences, Northeastern University, Shenyang 110819, People’s Republic of China
He Liu
College of Medicine and Biological Information Engineering, Northeastern University, Shenyang 110169, People’s Republic of China
Deliang Li
College of Medicine and Biological Information Engineering, Northeastern University, Shenyang 110169, People’s Republic of China
Bingle Li
College of Medicine and Biological Information Engineering, Northeastern University, Shenyang 110169, People’s Republic of China
Ye Tian
College of Medicine and Biological Information Engineering, Northeastern University, Shenyang 110169, People’s Republic of China
Baoyang Lu
Jiangxi Province Key Laboratory of Flexible Electronics, Jiangxi Science and Technology Normal University, Nanchang 330013, People’s Republic of China
Yu Fu
Department of Chemistry, College of Sciences, Northeastern University, Shenyang 110819, People’s Republic of China
Tieqiang Wang
Department of Chemistry, College of Sciences, Northeastern University, Shenyang 110819, People’s Republic of China

Corresponding Author: Tieqiang Wang

wangtieqiang@mail.neu.edu.cn

Nano-Micro Letters, Vol. 18 (2026), Article Number: 450

Abstract

Stimuli-responsive shape-changing hydrogels are the most competitive candidates for artificial muscles, electronic skins, and soft robotics. However, existing actuating hydrogels often suffer a trade-off between actuation performance and mechanical strength, which greatly limits their application prospects as actuators under external force loads. Here, we adopt a cascade polymerization strategy to successively introduce electrical sensing and mechanically enhanced polymer network phases into sponge-like PNIPAM hydrogels to achieve PNIPAM-based photothermal-responsive actuating hydrogels with fast response, high strength, and self-sensing performance. The as-prepared hydrogel actuator can execute rapid actuation missions even under external loading far exceeding its own mass and generate differentiated electrical sensing signals according to the magnitude of the external load. Based on the corresponding relationship between the mass of the load and the actuation behavior (such as "0/1" encoding), we develop a novel material-based binary information encoding system. Furthermore, by manufacturing logic gates to analyze differentiated feedback sensing signals and integrating them with Internet of Things technology, a closed-loop logic control system is established for remote logic-based interactive communication. This study fills the gap of traditional hydrogels in load-bearing actuation and complex interactive applications and opens up a new direction for the next generation of smart soft materials.


Highlights:
1 The cascade polymerization synergistic toughening mechanism overcomes the problem of mutual constraints between "mechanical strength and response speed" of traditional hydrogels and realizes load-bearing actuation.
2 The “mass–deformation” dynamic coding law was established, enabling a hydrogel-based 0/1 binary information encoding system derived from mechanical actuation responses.
3 Actuation–perception integrated logic-gate units were developed to enable intelligent soft robotics through a closed-loop “light-triggered actuation–signal feedback–logic processing–robotic action” control system.

Keywords

Multicontinuous-interpenetrating network High-strength Actuator Information encoding system Human–machine interaction
Zhang, Zhilin, Jiayi Gu, Lina Wang, Xingchen Cui, Xu Zhai, Yue Xu, He Liu, Deliang Li, Bingle Li, Ye Tian, Baoyang Lu, Yu Fu, and Tieqiang Wang. 2026. “High-Strength, Self-Sensing Multiphase Hydrogels for Load-Bearing Actuation and Logical Human–Machine Interaction”. Nano-Micro Letters 18 (July):450. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40820-026-02280-y.
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