Materials scientists have developed a printing technique that can transform automatically into 3D shapes, mimicking how living organisms can move and paving the way for new applications in soft robotics and other technologies.

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A team at the University of Texas at Arlington researchers created a new method to program thin sheets so that they autonomously turn into 3D structures. The goal of the research team, led by Kyungsuk Yum, an associate professor in the university’s Materials Science and Engineering Department, is to create synthetic materials that can mimic how living organisms expand and contract, he said. “There are a variety of 3D-shaped 2D materials in biological systems, and they play diverse functions,” Yum said. “Biological organisms often achieve complex 3D morphologies and motions of soft slender tissues by spatially controlling their expansion and contraction.” Researchers at the University of Texas (UT) at Arlington developed a process that programs 2D materials into 3D shapes that move similarly to living organisms. Biomanufacturing Materials Work in this area is not completely novel. Several material scientists have been working on the development of programmable materials through what’s called 4D printing, which takes 3D printing a step further to create pre-programmable objects that can […]

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