Stimuli-responsive hydrogels with programmable shape changes are promising materials for soft robots, four-dimensional printing, biomedical devices and artificial intelligence systems. However, these applications require the fabrication of hydrogels with complex, heterogeneous and reconfigurable structures and customizable functions. Here we report the fabrication of hydrogel assemblies with these features by reversibly gluing hydrogel units using a photocontrolled metallopolymer adhesive. The metallopolymer adhesive firmly attached individual hydrogel units via metal–ligand coordination and polymer chain entanglement. Hydrogel assemblies containing temperature- and pH-responsive hydrogel units showed controllable shape changes and motions in response to these external stimuli. To reconfigure their structures, the hydrogel assemblies were disassembled by irradiating the metallopolymer adhesive with light; the disassembled hydrogel units were then reassembled using the metallopolymer adhesive with heating. The shape change and structure reconfiguration abilities allow us to reprogramme the functions of hydrogel assemblies. The development of reconfigurable hydrogel assemblies using reversible adhesives provides a strategy for designing intelligent materials and soft robots with user-defined functions.

具有可编程形状变化的刺激响应水凝胶是用于软机器人、四维打印、生物医学设备和人工智能系统的有前途的材料。然而，这些应用需要制造具有复杂、异质、可重构结构和可定制功能的水凝胶。在这里，我们报告了通过使用光控金属聚合物粘合剂可逆地粘合水凝胶单元来制造具有这些特征的水凝胶组件。金属聚合物粘合剂通过金属配体配位和聚合物链缠结牢固地附着单个水凝胶单元。含有温度和 pH 响应水凝胶单元的水凝胶组件显示出可控的形状变化和运动以响应这些外部刺激。为了重新配置其结构，通过用光照射金属聚合物粘合剂来分解水凝胶组件；然后使用金属聚合物粘合剂在加热下将拆卸的水凝胶单元重新组装。形状变化和结构重构能力使我们能够重新编程水凝胶组件的功能。使用可逆粘合剂开发可重构水凝胶组件为设计具有用户定义功能的智能材料和软机器人提供了一种策略。