New bio-inspired dynamic materials transform themselves

Scientists have been searching for ways to develop materials that are as dynamic as living things, with the ability to change shape, move and change properties reversibly.

Now, with nature as their inspiration, Northwestern University scientists have developed soft materials that autonomously self-assemble into molecular superstructures and remarkably disassemble on demand, changing the properties of materials and opening the door for novel materials in applications ranging from sensors and robotics to new drug delivery systems and tools for tissue regeneration.

The highly dynamic new materials form hydrogels and also have provided unexpected biological clues about the brain micro-environment after injury or disease when their superstructures revealed reversible phenotypes in brain cells characteristic of injured or healthy brain tissue.

Read more at Northwestern University

Image Credit: Mark McClendon a Ronit Freeman

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