Shape-morphing elastomer could lead to tuneable lenses

The team at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) can change the shape of the elastomer using actuation claimed to be fast, reversible, controllable by an applied voltage, and reconfigurable to different shapes.

The research was published in Nature Communications.

"We see this work as the first step in the development of a soft, shape shifting material that changes shape according to electrical control signals from a computer," said David Clarke, the Extended Tarr Family Professor of Materials at SEAS and senior author of the paper. "This is akin to the very first steps taken in the 1950's to create integrated circuits from silicon, replacing circuits made of discrete, individual components. Just as those integrated circuits were primitive compared to the capabilities of today's electronics, our devices have a simple but integrated three-dimensional architecture of electrical conductors and dielectrics, and demonstrate the elements of programmable reconfiguration, to create large and reversible shape changes."