Collaborate Disseminate
Gels and glasses are on opposite ends of the material spectrum, but engineers at North Carolina State University (NCSU) have developed a new class called “glassy gels” that are both strong and flexible, as well as sticky and self-healing.Continue Readi… Continue reading New “glassy gel” materials are strangely strong, stretchy and sticky
You can stop skulking around labs trying to get bitten by radioactive spiders – a new breakthrough could make it easier than ever to get Spider-Man’s wall-crawling powers. Scientists in Singapore have created a strong and reusable adhesive out of a sha… Continue reading Strong shape-memory adhesive could put Spider-Man to shame
Japanese scientists have developed a new type of plastic that’s strong at room temperature, but can be easily broken down on demand into its base components. In seawater, it starts to break down into food for marine life, and just to top it off, it can… Continue reading Impressive new plastic self-heals, can be recycled and feeds marine life
A team of scientists at Yale University has developed a new “robotic fabric” that can change its shape and stiffness on demand or by sensing its environment. The material could one day be used in high-tech clothing, tents that set themselves up, or rob… Continue reading Shape-changing “robotic fabric” switches between soft and strong
Materials that can be deformed and then return to their original state as desired, such as shape memory alloys, could mean big things for aerospace, robotics, and even fashion if a new smart textile from Harvard University is anything to go by. Made fr… Continue reading Researchers recycle wool into smart textile that remembers its shape
Imagine if there were a metallic device that could be transported all squished down into a compact ball, but that would automatically “bloom” out into its useful form when heated. Well, that may soon be possible, thanks to a newly developed liquid meta… Continue reading Rubber “exoskeleton” lets liquid metal structures retain their shape
While shape-memory materials do have some interesting potential applications, many of them require the application of heat in order to change shape – and that could cause problems, in temperature-sensitive environments such as the human body…. Continue reading Stiffer shape-memory material utilizes magnetically-activated liquid