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\textbf{Background} Hydrogels are crosslinked polymer networks that can absorb and retain a large fraction of liquid. Near a critical sliding velocity, hydrogels pressed against smooth surfaces exhibit time-dependent frictional behavior…
Since wearable linkage mechanisms could control the moment transmission from actuator(s) to wearers, they can help ensure that even low-cost wearable systems provide advanced functionality tailored to users' needs. For example, if a hip…
Heterogeneous networks provide a universal framework for extracting subsystem-level features of a complex system, which are critical in graph colouring, pattern classification, and motif identification. When abstracting physical systems…
Hydrogels have had a profound impact in the fields of tissue engineering, drug delivery, and materials science as a whole. Due to the network architecture of these materials, imbibement with water often results in uniform swelling and…
Entangled networks are fundamental in various systems, from biological structures to engineered materials. Current techniques for programming entanglement often rely on intricate chemistry or result in statistically homogeneous networks,…
Shape memory structures are playing an important role in many cutting-edge intelligent fields. However, the existing technologies can only realize 4D printing of a single polymer or metal, which limits practical applications. Here, we…
Understanding the relationship between the microscopic structure and topology of a material and its macroscopic properties is a fundamental challenge across a wide range of systems. Here, we investigate the viscoelasticity of DNA nanostar…
The ability to reroute and control flow is vital to the function of venation networks across a wide range of organisms. By modifying individual edges in these networks, either by adjusting edge conductances or creating and destroying edges,…
This paper presents FoamFactor, a novel material with tunable stiffness and compressibility between hydration states, and a tailored pipeline to design and fabricate artifacts consisting of it. This technique compounds hydrogel with…
Grasping, in both biological and engineered mechanisms, can be highly sensitive to the gripper and object morphology, as well as perception, and motion planning. Here we circumvent the need for feedback or precise planning by using an array…
Tissue-like materials are required in many robotic systems to improve human-machine interactions. However, the mechanical properties of living tissues are difficult to replicate. Synthetic materials are not usually capable of simultaneously…
Polymer gels are comprised of a three-dimensional, cross-linked network that can typically withstand the mechanical deformation associated with both swelling and de-swelling. Thus, gels can be designed with smart behaviors that require both…
Managing heterogeneous network systems is a difficult task because each of these networks has its own curious management system. These networks usually are constructed on independent management protocols which are not compatible with each…
Synthetic sequence-controlled polymers promise to transform polymer science by combining the chemical versatility of synthetic polymers with the precise sequence-mediated functionality of biological proteins. However, design of these…
Hydrogels which are hydrophilic and porous materials have recently emerged as promising systems for filtration applications. In our study, we prepare hydrogel membranes by the photopolymerization of a mixture of poly (ethylene glycol)…
Chemical algorithms are statistical algorithms described and represented as chemical reaction networks. They are particularly attractive for traffic shaping and general control of network dynamics; they are analytically tractable, they…
Porous structures are materials consisting of minuscule pores, where the microstructure morphology significantly impacts their macroscopic properties. Integrating different porous structures through a blending method is indispensable to…
The spacial heterogeneity of hydrogels composed of PEGDA and added polymer chains is expected to play a crucial role on their transport properties which can be exploited in filtration or tissue engineering. However little is known about the…
Soft particles display highly versatile properties with respect to hard colloids, even more so at fluid-fluid interfaces. In particular, microgels, consisting of a cross-linked polymer network, are able to deform and flatten upon adsorption…
Soft particles such as microgels and core-shell particles can undergo significant and anisotropic deformations when adsorbed to a liquid interface. This, in turn, leads to a complex phase behavior upon compression. Here we develop a…