Electroadhesion of Polyelectrolyte Hydrogels to Plant Tissue
Annual AIChE Student Conference
2020
2020 Virtual Annual Student Conference
Annual Student Conference
Undergraduate Student Poster Session: Materials Engineering and Sciences
Monday, November 16, 2020 - 10:00am to 12:30pm
Here, we turn our attention to plant tissue and find that cationic gels can indeed be electroadhered (reversibly) to several fruits and vegetables such as grapes, plums, and strawberries. Several interesting aspects have emerged from these novel experiments. For example, as fruit ripens, the fruit tissue softens, allowing it to be consumed. We have examined electroadhesion of gels to fruits as they ripen with time. Typically, the gel adheres strongly to unripe fruit, but this adhesion decreases as the fruit ripens. In the case of strawberries, the ripe and unripe components within the tissue of a single fruit adhere differently to gels. We believe these results reflect how the polymer content in fruit tissue is altered during a fruitâs life cycle. For example, the polysaccharide pectin is expected to be metabolized into oligomers, shortening the polymer chains available for adhesion. Thus, our studies with fruit can provide insight into the broad mechanism governing electroadhesion between various pairs of soft materials.