Phys.org  August 7, 2019 To obtain dual stable states, the underlying mechanism must form an energy barrier between the two, where each state rested at an energetic minimum. An international team of researchers (Canada, USA – Case Western Reserve University, Louis Stokes Cleveland DVA Medical Center, University of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Mellon University) prepared sal-gel by mixing melted sodium acetate trihydrate with polymer pre-cursors of poly(acrylic acid) and a liquid mixture of acetic acid with water. The resulting gel mixture remained transparent, suggesting the constituents to be miscible with each other. The resulting gel had two solid states; a transparent soft […]