Soft materials articles within Nature

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  • Article
    | Open Access

    A photopolymer platform derived from renewable lipoates can be 3D-printed into high-resolution parts, which possess properties comparable to some commercial acrylic resins, and then recycled to produce a re-printable resin.

    • Thiago O. Machado
    • , Connor J. Stubbs
    •  & Andrew P. Dove

  • Article |

    A metafluid with programmable compressibility, optical behaviour and viscosity is realized by mixing deformable spherical shells that undergo buckling within an incompressible fluid; the versatility of these metafluids opens up numerous opportunities for functionality.

    • Adel Djellouli
    • , Bert Van Raemdonck
    •  & Katia Bertoldi

  • Article |

    High-density, intrinsically stretchable transistors with high driving ability and integrated circuits with high operation speed and large-scale integration were enabled by a combination of innovations in materials, fabrication process design, device engineering and circuit design.

    • Donglai Zhong
    • , Can Wu
    •  & Zhenan Bao

  • Article
    | Open Access

    We introduce a scalable, high-resolution, 3D printing technique for the fabrication of shape-specific particles based on roll-to-roll continuous liquid interface production, enabling direct integration within biomedical, analytical and advanced materials applications.

    • Jason M. Kronenfeld
    • , Lukas Rother
    •  & Joseph M. DeSimone

  • Article |

    A high-throughput, non-contact framework is described that uses the laser-induced vibrational signatures of metamaterials to non-destructively quantify their omnidirectional elastic information, dynamic linear properties, damping properties and defects.

    • Yun Kai
    • , Somayajulu Dhulipala
    •  & Carlos M. Portela

  • Article
    | Open Access

    We have developed an automated and high-throughput, three-dimensional, vision-controlled inkjet deposition process that enables the high-resolution, contactless printing of a range of materials with varying elastic moduli to create complex structures and robots.

    • Thomas J. K. Buchner
    • , Simon Rogler
    •  & Robert K. Katzschmann

  • Article |

    Following a micro-then-nano growth sequence to fabricate composites that are blends of block-copolymer-based supramolecules, small molecules and nanoparticles shows that high-performance barrier materials can be manufactured by means of entropy-driven assembly.

    • Emma Vargo
    • , Le Ma
    •  & Ting Xu

  • Article |

    An injectable hydrogel for use as a scaffold to aid tissue repair is described, the material of which is conductive so that it can be used both for electrophysiological measurement and electrostimulation in closed-loop robot-assisted rehabilitation.

    • Subin Jin
    • , Heewon Choi
    •  & Mikyung Shin

  • Article |

    Proton-coupled electron-transfer reactions are used to achieve efficient chemical doping of organic semiconductor thin films under ambient conditions, and a reference-electrode-free, resistive pH sensor based on the method is proposed.

    • Masaki Ishii
    • , Yu Yamashita
    •  & Jun Takeya

  • Article |

    We present a sustainably sourced adhesive system, with performance comparable to that of current industrial products, made from epoxidized soy oil, malic acid and tannic acid, all biomass derived, low cost and readily available.

    • Clayton R. Westerman
    • , Bradley C. McGill
    •  & Jonathan J. Wilker

  • Article |

    The introduction of chain entanglements into protein-based hydrogels yields hydrogels with high stiffness, high toughness, fast recovery and ultrahigh compressive strength, with mechanical properties close to those of cartilage.

    • Linglan Fu
    • , Lan Li
    •  & Hongbin Li

  • Article |

    A study shows that water can control macroscopic properties of biological materials through the hydration force, giving rise to a distinct class of solid matter with unusual properties.

    • Steven G. Harrellson
    • , Michael S. DeLay
    •  & Ozgur Sahin

  • Article
    | Open Access

    A simple spectral selective active colloidal system is designed in which TiO2 colloidal species are coded with dyes to form a photochromic swarm that adapts the appearance of incident light due to layered phase segregation.

    • Jing Zheng
    • , Jingyuan Chen
    •  & Jinyao Tang

  • Article |

    A new compatibilization strategy installs dynamic crosslinkers into several classes of binary, ternary and postconsumer immiscible polymer mixtures in situ, with the resulting compatibilized dynamic thermosets exhibiting intrinsic reprocessability and enhanced tensile strength and creep resistance.

    • Ryan W. Clarke
    • , Tobias Sandmeier
    •  & Eugene Y.-X. Chen

  • Article |

    A depolymerization method is described that uses electrified spatiotemporal heating to selectively generate monomers from the commodity plastics polypropylene and poly(ethylene terephthalate), allowing control over the pyrolysis of plastic waste and reducing the formation of side products.

    • Qi Dong
    • , Aditya Dilip Lele
    •  & Liangbing Hu

  • Article |

    Self-limited assembly of 'imperfect' chiral nanoparticles enables formation of bowtie-shaped microparticles with size monodispersity and continuously variable chirality to be used for printing photonically active metasurfaces.

    • Prashant Kumar
    • , Thi Vo
    •  & Nicholas A. Kotov

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Information from natural protein libraries was extracted and used to design heteropolymer ensembles as mixtures of disordered, partially folded and folded proteins, providing valuable guiding principles to synthetically realize protein properties.

    • Zhiyuan Ruan
    • , Shuni Li
    •  & Ting Xu

  • Article |

    A class of dielectric copolymers called ladderphanes is shown to outperform existing dielectric polymers and composites, with high discharged energy density and charge–discharge efficiency even at temperatures up to 200 °C.

    • Jie Chen
    • , Yao Zhou
    •  & Qing Wang

  • Article |

    Chiroptically active pinwheel assemblies on substrates are formed by tetrahedral gold nanoparticles from the effective ‘compression’ of a perovskite-like, low-density phase, thereby enabling the manufacture of metastructured coatings with special chiroptical characteristics as identified by photon-induced near-field electron microscopy and chirality measures.

    • Shan Zhou
    • , Jiahui Li
    •  & Qian Chen

  • Article |

    A design strategy termed ‘adaptive morphogenesis’ enables a robot inspired by aquatic and terrestrial turtles to adapt its limb morphology and gait to specialize for locomotion in different environments.

    • Robert Baines
    • , Sree Kalyan Patiballa
    •  & Rebecca Kramer-Bottiglio

  • Article |

    For a minimal model system of colloidal droplet chains, with programmable DNA interactions, it is shown that controlling the order in which interactions are switched on directs folding into unique structures.

    • Angus McMullen
    • , Maitane Muñoz Basagoiti
    •  & Jasna Brujic

  • Article |

    An air purification strategy is presented that moves air in the form of bubbles through an ion-doped conjugated polymer-coated matrix, which captures larger particulate matter, infiltrated with a selected functional liquid, which captures smaller particulate matter.

    • Yunmao Zhang
    • , Yuhang Han
    •  & Xu Hou

  • Article |

    A mechanical integrated circuit material based on Boolean mathematics and reconfigurable electrical circuits is created to demonstrate scalable information processing in synthetic, engineered soft matter.

    • Charles El Helou
    • , Benjamin Grossmann
    •  & Ryan L. Harne

  • Article |

    NeuroString, a tissue-like biological interface created by laser patterning of polyimide into a graphene/nanoparticle network embedded in an elastomer, is introduced, allowing in vivo real-time detection of neurotransmitters in the brain and gut.

    • Jinxing Li
    • , Yuxin Liu
    •  & Zhenan Bao

  • Article |

    Untreated, postconsumer-PET from 51 different thermoformed products can all be almost completely degraded by FAST-PETase in 1 week and PET can be resynthesized from the recovered monomers, demonstrating recycling at the industrial scale.

    • Hongyuan Lu
    • , Daniel J. Diaz
    •  & Hal S. Alper

  • Article |

      . Triplet fusion upconversion nanocapsules dispersed in a photopolymerizable resin allow for volumetric 3D printing at low-power continuous-wave excitation without support structures. 

    • Samuel N. Sanders
    • , Tracy H. Schloemer
    •  & Daniel N. Congreve

  • Article
    | Open Access

    A protocol in which monomers are pre-organized using a reversible and removable urea linkage enables the production of covalent organic frameworks with higher crystallinity and porosity than those produced using standard approaches with randomly aligned monomers.

    • Weiwei Zhang
    • , Linjiang Chen
    •  & Andrew I. Cooper

  • Article |

    In situ scanning tunnelling microscopy reveals the dynamic nature of the early stages of two-dimensional (2D) polymer formation and crystallization at the solid–liquid interface.

    • Gaolei Zhan
    • , Zhen-Feng Cai
    •  & Steven De Feyter

  • Perspective |

    The concept of 'Embodied Energy'—in which the components of a robot or device both store energy and provide a mechanical or structural function—is put forward, along with specific robot-design principles.

    • Cameron A. Aubin
    • , Benjamin Gorissen
    •  & Robert F. Shepherd

  • Article |

    A stretchable anode, cathode, semiconductor and current collector have been developed to create stretchable diodes that can operate at megahertz frequencies for use in wirelessly operated, skin-like wearable electronics.

    • Naoji Matsuhisa
    • , Simiao Niu
    •  & Zhenan Bao

  • Article |

    An all-in-one methodology for fabricating soft robotics reported here uses interfacial flows in elastomers that cure to produce actuators that can be tailored to suit applications from artificial muscles to grippers.

    • Trevor J. Jones
    • , Etienne Jambon-Puillet
    •  & P.-T. Brun

  • Article |

    Hollow colloidal capsules, each with a single micropore, act as artificial cell-like structures that can capture and release payloads such as solid particles or bacteria from the external environment.

    • Zhe Xu
    • , Theodore Hueckel
    •  & Stefano Sacanna

  • Article |

    Surface enhancements in glass mobility are complicated in polymers by the interplay of the surface mobile layer thickness with a second length scale (the size of the polymer chains), giving rise to a transient rubbery surface even in polymers with short chains.

    • Zhiwei Hao
    • , Asieh Ghanekarade
    •  & Biao Zuo

  • Article |

    Model patchy colloids with directional bonding are designed that assemble into icosahedral quasicrystals through the propagation of an icosahedral network of bonds and may be realized using DNA origami particles.

    • Eva G. Noya
    • , Chak Kui Wong
    •  & Jonathan P. K. Doye

  • Article |

    A structured fabric constructed of linked hollow polyhedral particles (resembling chain mail) can be simply and reversibly tuned between flexible and rigid states; when it is compressed, its linked particles become jammed.

    • Yifan Wang
    • , Liuchi Li
    •  & Chiara Daraio

  • Article |

    Through precise structural engineering, perovskite nanocrystals are co-assembled with other nanocrystal materials to form a range of binary and ternary perovskite-type superlattices that exhibit superfluorescence.

    • Ihor Cherniukh
    • , Gabriele Rainò
    •  & Maksym V. Kovalenko

  • Article |

    A two-tiered dynamic design strategy achieves topological transformations of two-dimensional polymeric cellular microstructures in a reversible and temporally controllable manner through exposure to different liquids.

    • Shucong Li
    • , Bolei Deng
    •  & Joanna Aizenberg

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