Auguste and her coworkers recently prepared thin films of a stimuli-responsive material in the pattern of an origami shape, called the Muira-fold. These materials can alter their geometry given external cues. Experiments show when half of the material (a) is placed in a high pH medium the result is the contraction as shown in (b). Scale bar = 1 cm. These programmable materials are a platform technology that can be used in a variety of mechanical systems.  The goal of this project is to understand how the local changes can lead to large, global transformation.

D.A. Weitz and C.M. Friend