Next generation material that adapts to its history

Nanowerk  November 15, 2022
The responses of living systems dynamically adapt based on the repetition, intensity, and history of stimuli. Such plasticity is ubiquitous in biology, which is profoundly linked to memory and learning. Inspired by living systems, researchers in Finland synthesised micrometre-sized magnetic beads which were then stimulated by a magnetic field. When the magnet was on, the beads stacked up to form pillars. The strength of the magnetic field affects the shape of the pillars, which in turn affects how well they conduct electricity. When they exposed the beads to a quickly pulsing magnetic field, the material became better at conducting electricity, whereas slower pulsing made it conduct poorly. This is reminiscent of short term-synaptic plasticity. According to the researchers they have paved the way for the next generation of life-inspired materials…read more. Open Access TECHNICAL ARTICLE 

Schemes for tunable…. dynamically assembling and disassembling electrically conducting micropillars… Credit: SCIENCE ADVANCES, 11 Nov 2022, Vol 8, Issue 45