Photo-origami—Bending and folding polymers with light
Abstract
Photo-origami uses the dynamic control of the molecular architecture of a polymer by a combination of mechanical and non-contact optical stimuli to design and program spatially and temporally variable mechanical and optical fields into a material. The fields are essentially actuators, embedded in the material at molecular resolution, designed to enable controllable, sequenced, macroscopic bending and folding to create three-dimensional material structures. Here, we demonstrate, through a combination of theory, simulation-based design, synthesis, and experiment, the operative phenomena and capabilities of photo-origami that highlight its potential as a powerful, and potentially manufacturable, approach to create three-dimensional material structures.
- Publication:
-
Applied Physics Letters
- Pub Date:
- April 2012
- DOI:
- 10.1063/1.3700719
- Bibcode:
- 2012ApPhL.100p1908R
- Keywords:
-
- bending;
- polymers;
- 81.40.Lm;
- 61.41.+e;
- 62.20.fg;
- Deformation plasticity and creep;
- Polymers elastomers and plastics;
- Shape-memory effect;
- yield stress;
- superelasticity