Intelligent hydrogels: Food detection, preservation and delivery driven by material-derived intelligence

Background

In the intelligent era marked by surging demands for dynamic environmental perception and precise regulation, intelligent hydrogels with unique material-derived intelligence, excellent biocompatibility, and tunable physicochemical properties provide indispensable core functional modules and physical carriers for the realization of a new generation of intelligent material systems with deep artificial intelligence (AI) coupling. Thus, systematically reviewing the latest research progress of intelligent hydrogels and deeply analysing their structure-activity relationships, response mechanisms, challenges faced, and future development trends has become particularly urgent and necessary.

Scope and approach

Starting from the intrinsic mechanisms of physical and biochemical responses, this review further elaborates innovatively on the regulation strategies of intelligent hydrogels from the perspectives of external field-driven and orthogonal/collaborative design. Additionally, by integrating typical application scenarios such as food detection, intelligent packaging and delivery, it demonstrates the “perceive-execute” capabilities of intelligent hydrogel systems in diverse scenarios.

Key findings and conclusions

Intelligent hydrogels utilize their unique material-derived intelligence, achieving real-time environmental sensing and intelligent response in fields such as food science. Non-contact external field strategies (magnetic, electrical, ultrasonic) avoid environmental dependence and spatial resolution limitations. Orthogonal/synergistic designs achieve multi-stimuli response by integrating non-interfering response modules or synergistic energy/signal coupling, allowing parallel processing of complex environmental signals. Intelligent hydrogels exhibit strong intelligence in fields ranging from food safety detection and intelligent packaging to bioactive substance delivery.