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Because the copolymer has two units -- one that is electroactive and one which is the original thermo-responsive unit -- there are now two pathways available to control solvation.

Gao and his colleagues also added an electroactive gel that releases an anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial drug when stimulated by an electrode.

“This is an opportunity to stop thinking of it as waste,” says Clara Santato, a chemist specializing in electroactive materials at Polytechnique Montréal in Canada.

They are potentially noisy to live with, but the vision the team is developing is one using electroactive polymers - materials that require electricity.

The electroactive polymers themselves generate an electrical signal.