Poly(3-hexylthiophene) Grains Synthesized by Solvent-Free Oxidative Coupling Polymerization and Their Use as Light-Responsive Liquid Marble Stabilizer

Cascading responses of stimuli-responsive materials

Responsiveness to stimuli is important in daily life: natural biological activity is governed by continuous stimulus responsiveness. The design of stimuli-responsive materials is required for the development of advanced sensing systems. Although fully controlled stimuli-responsive systems have been constructed in nature, artificial systems remain a challenge. Conventional stimuli-responsive materials show direct responsiveness to an applied stimulus (Stimulus 1), with structural changes in their molecules and organized states. This feature article focuses on cascading responses as a new concept for integrating stimuli-responsive material design. In cascading responses, an original stimulus (Stimulus 1) is converted into other stimuli (Stimulus 2, 3, …, N) through successive conversions. Stimulus N provides the eventual output response. Integration of multiple stimuli-responsive materials is required to achieve cascading responses. Although cascade, domino, and tandem chemical reactions have been reported at the molecular level, they are not used for materials with higher organized structures. In this article, we introduce functional carriers and sensors based on cascading responses as model cases. The concept of cascading responses enables the achievement of transscale responsivity and sensitivity, which are not directly induced by the original stimulus or its responsive material, for the development of advanced dynamic functional materials.

pH- and Photoresponsive Liquid Plasticine

Liquid marbles (LMs) can be prepared by adsorption of hydrophobic particles at the air-liquid interface of a water droplet. LMs have been studied for their application as microreaction vessels. However, their opaqueness poses challenges for internal observation. Liquid plasticines (LPs), akin to LMs, can be prepared by the adsorption of hydrophobic particles with a diameter of 50 nm or less, at the air-liquid interface of a water droplet. Unlike LMs, LPs are transparent, allowing for internal observation, thus presenting promising applications as reactors and culture vessels on a microliter scale. In this study, the surface of silica particles, approximately 20 nm in diameter, was rendered hydrophobic to prepare hydrophobic silica particles (SD0). A small amount of poly(2-(diisopropylamino)ethyl methacrylate) (PDPA) was then grafted onto the surface of SD0, yielding SD1. SD0 particles exhibited consistent hydrophobicity irrespective of the environmental pH atmosphere. Under acidic conditions, SD1 became hydrophilic due to the protonation of pendant tertiary amines in the grafted PDPA chains. However, SD1 alone was unsuitable for LP preparation due to its high surface wettability regardless of atmospheric pH, attributable to the presence of PDPA-grafted chains. Therefore, to prepare pH-responsive LP, SD1 and SD0 were mixed (SD1/SD0 = 3/7). Upon exposure to HCl gas, these LPs ruptured, with the leaked water from the LPs being absorbed by adjacent paper. Moreover, clear LPs, prepared using an aqueous solution containing a water-soluble photoacid generator (PAG), disintegrated upon exposure to light as PAG generated acid, leading to LP breakdown. In summary, pH-responsive LPs, capable of disintegration under acidic conditions and upon light irradiation, were successfully prepared in this study.

Liquid Marbles under Electric Fields: New Capabilities for Non-wetting Droplet Manipulation and Beyond

The study of liquid marbles (LMs) composed of stabilizing liquid droplets with solid particles in a gaseous environment has matured into an established area in surface and colloid science. The minimized "solid-liquid-air" triphase interface enables LMs to drastically reduce adhesion to a solid substrate, making them unique non-wetting droplets transportable with limited energy. The small volume, enclosed environment, and simple preparation render them suitable microreactors in industrial applications and processes such as cell culture, material synthesis, and blood coagulation. Extensive application contexts request precise and highly efficient manipulations of these non-wetting droplets. Many external fields, including magnetic, acoustic, photothermal, and pH, have emerged to prepare, deform, actuate, coalesce, mix, and disrupt these non-wetting droplets. Electric fields are rising among these external stimuli as an efficient source for manipulating the LMs with high controllability and a significant ability to contribute further to proposed applications. This Feature Article attempts to outline the recent developments related to LMs with the aid of electric fields. The effects of electric fields on the preparation and manipulation of LMs with intricate interfacial processes are discussed in detail. We highlight a wealth of novel electric field-involved LM-based applications and beyond while also envisaging the challenges, opportunities, and new directions for future development in this emerging research area.

Light-responsive polyurethanes: classification of light-responsive moieties, light-responsive reactions, and their applications

Stimuli responsiveness has been an attractive feature of smart material design, wherein the chemical and physical properties of the material can be varied in response to small environmental change. Polyurethane (PU), a widely used synthetic polymer can be upgraded into a light-responsive smart polymer by introducing a light-sensitive moiety into the polymer matrix. For instance, azobenzene, spiropyran, and coumarin result in reversible light-induced reactions, while o-nitrobenzyl can result in irreversible light-induced reactions. These variations of light-stimulus properties endow PU with wide ranges of physical, mechanical, and chemical changes upon exposure to different wavelengths of light. PU responsiveness has rarely been reviewed even though it is known to be one of the most versatile polymers with diverse ranges of applications in household, automotive, electronic, construction, medical, and biomedical industries. This review focuses on the classes of light-responsive moieties used in PU systems, their synthesis, and the response mechanism of light-responsive PU-based materials, which also include dual- or multi-responsive light-responsive PU systems. The advantages and limitations of light-responsive PU are reviewed and challenges in the development of light-responsive PU are discussed.

Synthesis of Polypyrrole and Its Derivatives as a Liquid Marble Stabilizer via a Solvent-Free Chemical Oxidative Polymerization Protocol

Solvent-free chemical oxidative polymerizations of pyrrole and its derivatives, namely N-methylpyrrole and N-ethylpyrrole, were conducted by mechanical mixing of monomer and solid FeCl₃ oxidant under nitrogen atmosphere. Polymerizations occurred at the surface of the oxidant, and optical and scanning electron microscopy studies confirmed production of atypical grains with diameters of a few tens of micrometers. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy studies indicated the presence of hydroxy and carbonyl groups which were introduced during the polymerization due to overoxidation. The polymer grains were doped with chloride ions, and the chloride ion dopant could be removed by dedoping using an aqueous solution of sodium hydroxide, which was confirmed by elemental microanalysis and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy studies. Water contact angle measurements confirmed that the larger the alkyl group on the nitrogen of pyrrole ring the higher the hydrophobicity and that the contact angles increased after dedoping in all cases. The grains before and after dedoping exhibited photothermal properties: the near-infrared laser irradiation induced a rapid temperature increase to greater than 430 °C. Furthermore, dedoped poly(N-ethylpyrrole) grains adsorbed to the air-water interface and could work as an effective liquid marble stabilizer. The resulting liquid marble could move on a planar water surface due to near-infrared laser-induced Marangoni flow and could disintegrate by exposure to acid vapor via redoping of the poly(N-ethylpyrrole) grains.

Multimotion of Marangoni Propulsion Ships Controlled by Two-Wavelength Near-Infrared Light

Multimode motion of Marangoni propulsion ships on a water surface as per a near-infrared, two-wavelength selective response is achieved for the first time. The ships are rhombus- or propeller-shaped polyacrylamide or siloxane resin-based gels in which Nd₂O₃ and Yb₂O₃ nanoparticles are incorporated separately for photothermal conversion at 808 and 980 nm, respectively. The rhombus geometry is for straight locomotion, and the propeller geometry is for rotation. On/off remote control of the forward and backward locomotion of a rhombus-shaped ship and of the clockwise and counterclockwise rotations of a propeller-shaped ship via irradiation with 808 or 980 nm near-infrared light is demonstrated. The nanoparticles are incorporated into the desired locations of the gels, enabling selective local heating of the gels without focusing the light. The temperature gradient of the ships by local heating, based on a photothermal conversion, generates a Marangoni propulsion force to move the ship in the desired direction.

Controllable Positive/Negative Phototaxis of Millimeter-Sized Objects with Sensing Function

Phototaxis, which is the directional motion toward or away from light, is common in nature and inspires development of artificial light-steered active objects. Most of the light-steered objects developed so far exhibit either positive or negative phototaxis, and there are few examples of research on objects that exhibit both positive and negative phototaxis. Herein, small objects showing both positive and negative phototaxis on the water surface upon near-infrared (NIR) light irradiation, with the direction controlled by the position of light irradiation, are reported. The millimeter-sized tetrahedral liquid marble containing gelled water coated by one polymer plate with light-to-heat photothermal characteristic, which adsorbs onto the bottom of the liquid marble, and three polymer plates with highly transparent characteristic, which adsorb onto the upper part of the liquid marble, is utilized as a model small object. Light irradiation on the front side of the object induces negative phototaxis and that on the other side induces positive phototaxis, and the motion can be controlled to 360° arbitrary direction by precise control of the light irradiation position. Thermographic studies confirm that the motions are realized through Marangoni flow generated around the liquid marble, which is induced by position-selective NIR light irradiation. The object can move centimeter distances, and numerical analysis indicates that average velocity and acceleration are approximately 12 mm/s and 71 mm/s², respectively, which are independent of the direction of motions. The generated force is estimated to be approximately 0.4 μN based on Newton's equation. Furthermore, functional cargo can be loaded into the inner phase of the small objects, which can be delivered and released on demand and endows them with environmental sensing ability.

Locomotion of a Nonaqueous Liquid Marble Induced by Near-Infrared-Light Irradiation

Micrometer-sized hydrophobic polyaniline (PANI) grains were synthesized via an aqueous chemical oxidative polymerization protocol in the presence of dopant carrying perfluoroalkyl or alkyl groups. The critical surface tensions of the PANIs synthesized in the presence of heptadecafluorooctanesulfonic acid and sodium dodecyl sulfate dopants were lower than that of PANI synthesized in the absence of dopant, indicating the presence of hydrophobic dopant on the grain surfaces. The PANI grains could adsorb to air-liquid interfaces, and aqueous and nonaqueous liquid marbles (LMs) were successfully fabricated using liquids with surface tensions ranging between 72.8 and 42.9 mN/m. Thermography studies confirmed that the surface temperature of the LMs increased by near-infrared light irradiation thanks to the photothermal property of the PANI, and the maximum temperatures measured for nonaqueous LMs were higher than that measured for aqueous LM. We demonstrated that transport of the LMs on a planar water surface can be achieved via Marangoni flow generated by the near-infrared light-induced temperature gradient. Numerical analyses indicated that the LMs containing liquids with lower specific heat and thermal conductivity and higher density showed longer path length per one light irradiation shot and longer decay time. This is because generated heat could efficiently transfer from the LMs to the water surface and larger inertial force could work on the LMs. The LMs could also move over the solid substrate thanks to their near-spherical shapes. Furthermore, it was also demonstrated that the inner liquids of the LMs could be released on site by an external stimulus.

Light-Driven Locomotion of Bubbles

Remotely controlling the movement of small objects is a challenging research topic, which can realize the transportation of materials. In this study, remote locomotion control of particle-stabilized bubbles on a planar water surface by near-infrared laser or sunlight irradiation is demonstrated. A light-induced Marangoni flow was utilized to induce the locomotion of the bubbles on water surface, and the timing and direction of the locomotion can be controlled by irradiation timing and direction on demand. The velocity, acceleration, and force of the bubbles were analyzed. It was also confirmed that the bubbles can work as light-driven towing engines to pull other objects. Furthermore, it was demonstrated that the bubbles can work as an adhesive to bond two solid substrates by application of compressive stress under water. Such remote transport of the materials, pulling of the objects by light, and controlling the release of gas on demand should open up a wide field of conceivable applications.

Light-driven locomotion of a centimeter-sized object at the air–water interface: effect of fluid resistance

Centimeter-sized flat-headed push pin with photothermal properties can be moved on a water surface by a simple near-infrared laser.