ABSTRACT
Due to the obvious advantages in material properties, smart materials are taking over conventional materials in many engineering applications. Thus, smart gels are contributing toward a new generation of biomaterials that serve as templates for biomedical devices or scaffolds for tissue engineering, biosensors, and so on, and toward the development of self-healing materials. A smart gel is a material that changes its physical or chemical properties—for example, by swelling or change in light-reflecting capabilities—in response to specific external environments, such as the presence of moisture or changes in chemicals, temperature, or field proximity. The Department of Engineering Science at Oxford University, United Kingdom, are working on a liquid suspension of very small particles termed sol as an advanced form of stable gel with smart properties. Microelectromechanical/nanoelectromechanical systems, self-healing coatings, electrolytes for rechargeable batteries, or enhanced dielectrics for supercapacitors could be potentially suitable applications for such shape-shifting/-memorizing gels.
