Invited Speakers

Soft network materials and their applications in bio-integrated devices

Abstract

Complex 3D mesostructures in biology (e.g., cytoskeletal webs, neural circuits, and vasculature networks) form naturally to provide essential functions in even the most basic forms of life.  Compelling opportunities exist for analogous 3D architectures in human-made devices, ranging from bio-integrated electronics, MEMS, to metamaterials and micro-robotics.  However, the development of artificial 3D soft materials and electronics with customized mechanical properties that mimic or exceed those of biological tissues is extremely challenging.  In this presentation, I will discuss a set of rational design strategies and fabrication approaches of soft network materials with periodically distributed filamentary microstructures.  In the first part, I will introduce a class of bio-inspired network designs to enable the development of biomimetic materials that can reproduce accurately nonlinear mechanical properties of soft biological tissues.  In the second part, I will present mechanics-driven designs of soft mechanical metamaterials with exotic effective properties (e.g., negative swelling, thermally-induced shear, negative Thermal expansion, negative Poisson’s ratios, etc.) that do not exist in conventional materials in nature.  In the last part, I will introduce a couple of examples to demonstrate the applications of these network materials, including, for example, stretchable integrated devices in stacked multilayers for human body motion detection, and breathable, shrinkable, hemostatic patches as a means of noninvasive treatment.