Engineers created artificial muscles that work on glucose

Today there are several developments of artificial muscles, but they all extract energy

for movement not from glucose, but from other sources - for example, from electricity.

Now researchers have created artificial muscles,which are more like biological. The muscle consists of three layers: a thin membrane between two layers of electroactive polymer. Scientists have used the technology that underlies the bioelectrodes and allows you to convert chemical energy into electrical energy using enzymes.

These enzymes use glucose and oxygen sothe same as in the body - for the production of electrons needed to propel an artificial muscle made from an electroactive polymer. A voltage source is not required: it is enough to immerse the drive in a glucose solution in water.

Edwin Jager, lead author

As a result, researchers have succeeded in ensuring that glucose, as in biological muscles, is directly transformed into a movement into artificial ones.

Earlier, participants in the Ural project session of the Sirius educational center in Sochi presented the first prototype of a bionic prosthetic hand.