Synthetic materials mimic living creatures

Science Daily  June 22, 2020
Researchers at Northwestern University have developed hybrid light-responsive soft materials composed of peptide amphiphile supramolecular polymers chemically bonded to spiropyran-based networks that expel water in response to visible light. The supramolecular polymers form a reversibly deformable and water-draining skeleton that mechanically reinforces the hybrid and can also be aligned by printing methods. The noncovalent skeleton embedded in the network enables faster bending and flattening actuation of objects, as well as longer steps during the light-driven crawling motion of macroscopic films. As the material can be designed in different shapes, it could play a role in a variety of tasks, ranging from environmental clean-up to brain surgery. The researchers believe that it offers strategies for the bottom-up design of soft matter that mimics living organisms…read more. TECHNICAL ARTICLE