Two dimensional (2D) materials with atomic-scale thickness like graphene exhibit substantial in-plane stiffness and strength while maintaining significant out-of-plane flexibility. This enables the assembly of graphene into complex multilayer and even three-dimensional (3D) structures through a unique combination of self-folding, self-tearing, and nearly frictionless self-propagation, all driven by interfacial energy. We call this phenomenon ‘graphene […]

Mechanical metamaterials are artificially designed structures that offer unique properties like negative Poisson’s ratio, tunable stiffness, and advanced thermal characteristics. While the static properties of mechanical metamaterials have been widely studied, their nonlinear dynamics stemming from the structural and geometric designs remain largely unexplored, which could pave ways for innovative design and optimization for novel […]

Biopolymer hydrogel materials typically exhibit relatively low range of programmable modulus less than 100 kPa, which limits their biomedical applications, such as in articular cartilage and synthetic joints, where tissues are cyclically loaded with high magnitudes of peak stress on the order of 10MPa, and applications in soft robotics require moduli across orders of magnitude […]