Synchronous volume and color self-oscillating gels based on chemomechanical coupling

Co-Complexes-Based Self-Oscillating Gels Driven by the Belousov-Zhabotinsky Reaction

We report the synthesis of novel cobalt complexes-based catalysts designed for the oscillatory Belousov-Zhabotinsky (BZ) reaction. For the first time, we introduce cobalt complex-based self-oscillating gels that demonstrate autonomous color oscillations within a BZ reagent solution, functioning without the need for any external stimuli. We created acrylamide-based self-oscillating gels containing immobilized tris(2,2'-bipyridine)cobalt(II) or tris(1,10-phenanthroline)cobalt(II) complexes and gels containing covalently bound (5-acrylamido-1,10-phenanthroline)bis(2,2'-bipyridine)cobalt(II), (5-acrylamido-1,10-phenanthroline)bis(1,10-phenanthroline) cobalt(II), or tris(5-acrylamido-1,10-phenanthroline)cobalt(II) complexes. When the BZ reaction takes place within the gels, it results in the observation of moving chemical waves and reversible color changes. We believe that Co-complexes-based self-oscillating gels have potential applications in the design of soft actuators and chemical devices for signal processing.