programmable matter

Self-assembly of three-dimensional (3D) structures, through bending, twisting, folding, and buckling, has garnered broad interest among physicists, mathematicians, chemists, and biologists. Herein strain engineering and geometric frustration as an on-demand strategy for fabricating spontaneous rolling “origami” structures with programmable multistability across multiple length scales are exploited.

The design of a dynamic, versatile, convertible, and responsive micropatterned system is realized by a photo/moisture reconstructible multiscale film-substrate bilayer structure. Specifically, a hydrophilic polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)/laponite (LP) thin film is covalently bonded to a photothermally active polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)/carbon black (CB) soft substrate. A laser engraver can inscribe programmable aligned micro-wrinkles by manipulating laser power and spatiotemporal control.