Remotely Triggered Assembly of 3D Mesostructures Through Shape-Memory Effects

Jun Kyu Park; Kewang Nan; Haiwen Luan; Ning Zheng; Shiwei Zhao; Hang Zhang; Xu Cheng; Heling Wang; Kan Li; Tao Xie; Yonggang Huang; Yihui Zhang; Seok Kim; John A Rogers

doi:10.1002/adma.201905715

Remotely Triggered Assembly of 3D Mesostructures Through Shape-Memory Effects

Adv Mater. 2019 Dec;31(52):e1905715. doi: 10.1002/adma.201905715. Epub 2019 Nov 13.

Authors

Jun Kyu Park¹, Kewang Nan^{1

2}, Haiwen Luan³, Ning Zheng⁴, Shiwei Zhao^{5

6}, Hang Zhang⁷, Xu Cheng⁷, Heling Wang⁵, Kan Li^{5

8}, Tao Xie⁴, Yonggang Huang³, Yihui Zhang⁷, Seok Kim¹, John A Rogers⁹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Mechanical Sciences and Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, 61801, USA.
² Department of Bioengineering, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA.
³ Center for Bio-Integrated Electronics, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, 60208, USA.
⁴ State Key Laboratory of Chemical Engineering, College of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310027, P. R. China.
⁵ Department of Mechanical Engineering, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, 60208, USA.
⁶ School of Aeronautic Science and Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing, 100191, P. R. China.
⁷ Applied Mechanics Laboratory, Department of Engineering Mechanics, Center for Flexible Electronics Technology, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, P. R. China.
⁸ Department of Engineering, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 1PZ, UK.
⁹ Departments of Materials Science and Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, Neurological Surgery, Chemistry, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Simpson Querrey Institute and Feinberg Medical School, Center for Bio-Integrated Electronics, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, 60208, USA.

PMID: 31721341
DOI: 10.1002/adma.201905715

Abstract

3D structures that incorporate high-performance electronic materials and allow for remote, on-demand 3D shape reconfiguration are of interest for applications that range from ingestible medical devices and microrobotics to tunable optoelectronics. Here, materials and design approaches are introduced for assembly of such systems via controlled mechanical buckling of 2D precursors built on shape-memory polymer (SMP) substrates. The temporary shape fixing and recovery of SMPs, governed by thermomechanical loading, provide deterministic control over the assembly and reconfiguration processes, including a range of mechanical manipulations facilitated by the elastic and highly stretchable properties of the materials. Experimental demonstrations include 3D mesostructures of various geometries and length scales, as well as 3D aquatic platforms that can change trajectories and release small objects on demand. The results create many opportunities for advanced, programmable 3D microsystem technologies.

Keywords: 3D mesostructures; aquatic robots; remotely triggered 3D assembly; shape-memory polymers; stretchable devices.

Abstract

Grants and funding