Modeling and simulation of hydrogels for the application as finger grippers

A chemo-electro-mechanical continuum model developed previously by the authors is utilized in this article to simulate electrically driven hydrogels for the application as finger grippers. To that end, a system consisting of an anionic gel and a cationic gel immersed in NaCl solution bath is discretized and numerically solved. An electric field is then applied between two electrodes on top and bottom of the simulation domain. For the numerical treatment of this study, the finite element method is exploited. By gradual increase in the electric potential between the two electrodes, the bending movement of the gels is realized. The process leading to bending of the gels is elaborated in detail in this article. It is concluded that our approach proves to be a practical tool for simulation of the closing and opening mechanism of a finger gripper stimulated by electric field.