China releases new experimental deformable material for aerospace and medical applications

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Chinese researchers announced on the 8th an experimental deformable material that can be folded into various complex shapes, raising industrial origami to a new level and providing a wide range of possibilities for medical and aerospace applications. possibility.

According to a report on the website of the US "Wall Street Journal" on January 8, the new polymer plastic designed by scientists can change its shape in time according to preset temperature changes. In addition, the material is designed to change into a new shape without "erasing" its previous shape, the scientists say, making it suitable for complex parts that are difficult to manufacture by conventional means with machines or molds.

"This can produce extremely complex permanent shapes," said Tao Xie, a scientist on the project team at Zhejiang University in China.

According to the report, this polymer is the latest example of "programmable matter". Dr. Xie Tao and his colleagues reported their research progress in the American journal Science Advances on the 8th.

To demonstrate its capabilities, the researchers pre-programmed a small piece of the new polymer material with a series of shapes. As it is heated, the material changes from the shape of a boat to a bird to a windmill before returning to its original shape.

While this is still a novelty in the lab, its potential applications are wide-ranging, including flexible medical sensors that change in response to body temperature, solar panels that unfold when heated by sunlight, and deformable tools or robots. .