Shape-morphing material 'closer to artificial nervous tissue'

These technologies need stretchable materials that change shape adaptively while relying on portable electronics for power, an ambition realised at Carnegie Mellon University where a new material has been developed that exhibits high electrical and thermal conductivity with actuation capabilities that are unlike other soft composites.

In findings published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the researchers report on this intelligent new material that can adapt its shape in response to its environment.

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“It is not only thermally and electrically conductive, it is also intelligent," said Carmel Majidi, an associate professor of mechanical engineering who directs the Soft Machines Lab at Carnegie Mellon. "Just like a human recoils when touching something hot or sharp, the material senses, processes, and responds to its environment without any external hardware. Because it has neural-like electrical pathways, it is one step closer to artificial nervous tissue."