Inspired by plant components that respond to external
stimuli, material scientists from ETH Zurich have devised a new method for
producing composite materials from a variety of materials that adopt a
pre-programmed shape autonomously.
Plant components that bend, roll or twist in response to
external stimuli such as temperature or moisture are fairly commonplace in
nature and often play a role in the dispersal of seeds. Pine cones, for
instance, close their scales when wet and open them again once they have dried
out. André Studart, a professor of complex materials at ETH Zurich’s Department
of Materials, and his group have now applied the knowledge of how these
movements come about to produce synthetically a composite material with
comparable properties.