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Access through your institution Buy or subscribe Hydrogels, characterized by their softness and biocompatibility, hold potential for enabling seamless interaction between humans and
electronics in biomedical devices. However, development of hydrogel-based machines is constrained by traditional fabrication strategies such as sol–gel transition and photopolymerization
that compromise the low-density polymer network of hydrogels. This leads to challenges, such as restricted material diversity, limited tunability and insufficient geometrical complexity. MCP
is a two-step process in which a water-to-ice phase transition locks the molecular configuration of extruded hydrogels inks, and a subsequent ice-to-water phase transition enables the
cross-linking of the frozen hydrogel network. “By depressing the freezing points of frozen structures, this ice-to-water phase transition also extends the time window for cross-linking
reactions, enabling fine property tunability and high shape fidelity of the printed hydrogel,” explains Gu. This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution ACCESS
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about institutional subscriptions * Read our FAQs * Contact customer support REFERENCES ORIGINAL ARTICLE * Li, J. et al. Multimaterial cryogenic printing of three-dimensional soft hydrogel
machines. _Nat. Commun._ 16, 185 (2025) Article MATH Google Scholar Download references AUTHOR INFORMATION AUTHORS AND AFFILIATIONS * Nature Reviews Bioengineering
https://www.nature.com/natrevbioeng/ Caroline Beyer Authors * Caroline Beyer View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Correspondence to Caroline Beyer. RIGHTS AND PERMISSIONS Reprints and permissions ABOUT THIS ARTICLE CITE THIS ARTICLE Beyer, C. Cryogenic printing of hydrogel machines. _Nat Rev Bioeng_ 3,
107 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s44222-025-00282-w Download citation * Published: 04 February 2025 * Issue Date: February 2025 * DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s44222-025-00282-w SHARE
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