Development of an Electroactive Hydrogel as a Scaffold for Excitable Tissues

Figure 2

Response of varying hydrogel formulations to electrical stimulation (n = 4 per group). (a) Final curvature of 10 kDa and 20 kDa PEGDA-PAA electroactive hydrogels in response to 5, 10, and 20 V stimulation. Smaller radii indicate greater deformation. The 20 kDa PEGDA-PAA molecular weight hydrogels deformed at 5 V to the same extent that the 10 kDa molecular weight hydrogels deformed when stimulated at 20 V. 10 kDa PEGDA-PAA hydrogels did not deform as consistently as 20 kDa hydrogels, leading to high variability. (b) Final aspect ratio achieved by 20 kDa PEGDA-PAA hydrogels. Increasing aspect ratio corresponds to increasing deformation (i.e., decreasing radius of curvature achieved). Error bars show standard error of mean.

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