Shape-memory polymers or shape-shifting materials are smart materials that have gained significant attention within materials science and biomedical engineering in recent years to build smart structures and devices. Digital ...
To effectively replicate the movements of humans and animals, robots should integrate muscle-like structures. These artificial muscles should attain an optimal performance across all relevant actuation parameters, including ...
Moiré superlattices are systems in which two sheets of a material are placed on top of each other with a small angle misalignment, resulting in a characteristic pattern known as the Moiré pattern. In recent years, many ...
Liquid crystals differ from isotropic fluids (fluids with similar properties in different directions) to exhibit highly anisotropic (varying properties in different directions) interactions with surfaces. In a new report ...
Oscillating flow and light pulses can be used to create reconfigurable architecture in liquid crystals. Materials scientists can carefully engineer concerted microfluidic flows and localized optothermal fields to achieve ...
Biological materials from bone to spider-silk and wood are lightweight fibre composites arranged in a complex hierarchical structure, formed by directed self-assembly to demonstrate outstanding mechanical properties.
(Phys.org)—Dynamic holograms allow three-dimensional images to change over time like a movie, but so far these holograms are still being developed. The development of dynamic holograms may now get a boost from recent research ...
(Phys.org)—Physicists have discovered that dozens of 3-D knotted structures called "topological solitons," which have remained experimentally elusive for hundreds of years, can be created and frozen for long periods of ...
(Phys.org)—Scientists have found that an intricately beautiful yet poorly understood type of crystal found in soap bubbles follows the same mathematical rules as a much better understood type of crystal called martensite. ...
(Phys.org) —The simple acts of heating and cooling affect different substances in different ways: some substances may change phase from solid to liquid to gas, while others may irreversibly break down when heat is applied. ...
