Anisotropically Deforming Sandwich-Type Self-Oscillating Gels: A Hierarchical Model Platform of Cardiac Tissue

Abstract

Here, we present sandwich-type self-oscillating gels as a potential model for exploring the cardiac hierarchy and derived emergent properties. The sandwich-type self-oscillating gels, mimicking the basic block of the cardiac muscle tissue, consist of the base and self-oscillating gel layers, where the self-oscillating layer at both sides surrounds the base gels in the middle. The sandwich-type self-oscillating gels feature a distinguished deformation according to the equilibrium condition. The shape anisotropically deforms when the system is far from equilibrium (during a Belousov−Zhabotinsky reaction), while it isotropically changes in the equilibrium. Similar to the case for the cardiac muscle, the area ratio between the two components determines the anisotropic deformation behavior. Considering that the self-oscillating and base gels can serve as cardiomyocytes and an extracellular matrix, our study can be an alternative soft material-based experimental platform for investigating how the changes in the substructural properties affect the superstructural functions in the heart tissues.

Emergent Synchronous Volumetric Oscillation in Hierarchically Structured Self-Oscillating Gel Clusters

“…Moreover, AAc-containing carboxylic groups can form hydrogen bonds with each other under acidic conditions, facilitating the clusterability of gel units. The size of a cubic gel unit was designed to be approximately 500 μm × 500 μm × 500 μm to induce isotropic volume deformation without the propagation of the BZ chemical wave. ,, The geometry of the gel cluster was designed to exhibit isotropic deformation: single, double (2 × 1), and quadruple (2 × 2) (Figure ). Homogeneous and heterogeneous gel clusters were prepared, with the former featuring identical self-oscillating gel units and the latter composed of distinguished self-oscillating gels.…”

“…Regarding the first criterion, the developed material should demonstrate self-volume oscillation during the BZ reaction for functional analysis. The NIPAAm-based self-oscillating gel system serves as a robust platform for achieving this functionality. − However, a pure NIPAAm-based self-oscillating gel system often fails to oscillate volumetrically at the set operating temperature due to the hydrophobic aggregation of the constituents …”