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This study reports the fundamental investigation of a novel composite material consisting of MXene (Ti$_3$C$_2$T$_x$) and a stimulus-responsive hydrogel (Poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) - PNIPAAm). In contrast to previously reported integration…
The actin cytoskeleton of adherent tissue cells often condenses into filament bundles contracted by myosin motors, so-called stress fibers, which play a crucial role in the mechanical interaction of cells with their environment. Stress…
Physiological sensing deep in tissue, remains a clinical challenge. Here a flexible miniaturised sensing optrode providing a platform to perform minimally invasive in vivo in situ measurements is reported. Silica microspheres covalently…
The use of colloidal supported lipid bilayers (CSLBs) has recently been extended to create colloidal joints, that - in analogy to their macroscopic counterparts - can flexibly connect colloidal particles. These novel elements enable the…
Many biological materials must couple mechanical strength with the ability to rapidly self-assemble at a specific location. In particular, biomolecular condensates readily self-assemble via phase separation, but may also need to resist…
A novel modelling technique using finite element analysis to mimic the mechanoresponse of cell-laden biomaterial is proposed for the use in bioinks and other tissue engineering applications. Here a hydrogel-based composite biomaterial…
Motile living organisms routinely probe their surroundings to adapt in ever-evolving environments. Although synthetic microswimmers offer surrogates for self-propelled living entities, they often lack the complex feedback mechanisms that…
Slime mould of Physarum polycephalum is a large cell exhibiting rich spatial non-linear electrical characteristics. We exploit the electrical properties of the slime mould to implement logic gates using a flexible hardware platform designed…
Electronic skin, a class of wearable electronic sensors that mimic the functionalities of human skin, has made remarkable success in applications including health monitoring, human-machine interaction and electronic-biological interfaces.…
The soft character of organic materials leads to strong coupling between molecular nuclear and electronic dynamics. This coupling opens the way to control charge transport in organic electronic devices by inducing molecular vibrational…
We use all-atom molecular dynamics simulations informed by density functional theory calculations to investigate aqueous ion transport across sub-nanoporous monolayer molybdenum disulfide (MoS$_2$) membranes subject to varying tensile…
Interfacing artificial functional materials and living neuronal tissues is at the forefront of bio-nano-technology. Attempts have been so far based onto microscale processing of metals and inorganic semiconductors as electrodes or…
Nanopores are both a tool to study single-molecule biophysics and nanoscale ion transport, but also a promising material for desalination or osmotic power generation. Understanding the physics underlying ion transport through nano-sized…
The paper addresses the underlying source of two forms of induced anisotropy in granular materials: contact orientation anisotropy and contact force anisotropy. A rational, mathematical structure is reviewed for the manner in which fabric…
A porous material was considered as a platform for optical sensing. It was envisaged that the porous material was infiltrated by a fluid which contains an agent to be sensed. Changes in the optical properties of the infiltrated porous…
Recent advances in metamaterials and fabrication techniques have revived interest in mechanical computing. Contrary to techniques relying on static deformations of buckling beams or origami-based lattices, the integration of wave scattering…
Soft living tissues like cartilage can be considered as biphasic materials comprised of a fibrous complex biopolymer network and a viscous background liquid. Here, we show by a combination of experiment and theoretical analysis that both…
Filamentous cyanobacteria, forming long strands of connected cells, are one of the earliest and most successful forms of life on Earth. They exhibit self-organised behaviour, forming large-scale patterns in structures like biomats and…
Solid-state nanopore gating inspired by biological ion channels is gaining increasing traction due to a large range of applications in biosensing and drug delivery. Integration of stimuli-responsive molecules such as…
Catch bonds are interactions whose lifetimes increase under mechanical load, a counterintuitive behaviour that underlies diverse biological processes. Translating this mechanism to synthetic materials offers the potential to create systems…