Related papers: Robust Myco-Composites as a Platform for Versatile…
The shape of the building blocks plays a crucial role in directing self-assembly towards desired architectures. Out of the many different shapes, helix has a unique position. Helical structures are ubiquitous in nature and a helical shape…
The increasing demand for bone grafts due to the aging population has opened new opportunities for the manufacture of porous ceramics to assist in bone reconstruction. In our study, we investigate a new, promising method to manufacture…
Networks of biofilaments are essential for the formation of cellular structures that support various biological functions. For the most part, previous studies have investigated the collective dynamics of rod-like biofilaments; however, the…
Hygro-responsive materials exhibit a complex structure-to-property relationship. The interactions of water within these materials under varying hygric and mechanical loads play a crucial role in their macroscopic deformation and final…
The concept of a `persistent worm' is introduced, representing the smallest possible length of a wormlike micelle, and modelled by a bead-spring chain with sticky beads at the ends. Persistent worms are allowed to combine with each other at…
Porous and flexible actuating materials are important in the development of smart systems. We report here a facile method to prepare scalable, flexible actuating porous membranes based on a poly(ionic liquid)-modified tissue paper. The…
The main goal of this work is to clarify and quantify, by means of mathematical analysis, the role of structural viscoelasticity in the biomechanical response of deformable porous media with incompressible constituents to sudden changes in…
Soils and sediments are soft, amorphous materials with complex microstructures and mechanical properties, that are also building blocks for industrial materials such as concrete. These Earth-mediated materials evolve under prolonged…
The design of structural & functional materials for specialized applications is being fueled by rapid advancements in materials synthesis, characterization, manufacturing, with sophisticated computational materials modeling frameworks that…
Porous structures are intricate solid materials with numerous small pores, extensively used in fields like medicine, chemical engineering, and aerospace. However, the design of such structures using computer-aided tools is a time-consuming…
We address the folding induced by differential growth in soft layered solids via an elementary model that consists of a soft growing neo-Hookean elastic layer adhered to a deep elastic substrate. As the layer/substrate modulus ratio is…
We study both experimentally and theoretically the self-assembly of binary block copolymers in dilute solution, where self-assembly is triggered by changing the solvent from the common good solvent THF to the selective solvent water, and…
Filamentous cyanobacteria can show fascinating examples of nonequilibrium self-organization, which however are not well-understood from a physical perspective. We investigate the motility and collective organization of colonies of these…
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…
The built environment provides an excellent setting for interdisciplinary research on the dynamics of microbial communities. The system is simplified compared to many natural settings, and to some extent the entire environment can be…
The development of damage-resistant structural materials that can withstand harsh environments is a major issue in materials science and engineering. Bioinspired brick-and-mortar designs have recently demonstrated a range of interesting…
Active filaments are a workhorse for propulsion and actuation across biology, soft robotics and mechanical metamaterials. However, artificial active rods suffer from limited robustness and adaptivity because they rely on external control,…
The escalating plastic waste crisis demands global action, yet mechanical recycling - currently the most prevalent strategy - remains severely underutilized. Only a small fraction of the total plastic waste is recycled in this manner,…
The construction industry is a major consumer of raw materials, accounting for nearly half of global material usage annually, while generating significant waste that poses sustainability challenges. This paper explores the untapped…
Biological and robotic systems often operate in confined environments where material must be gathered without centralized control. Inspired by the effective collection strategies of aquatic worms (Lumbriculus variegatus and Tubifex…