Center for Functional Nanomaterials Seminar

In nature, there are numerous examples of living creatures taking advantage of various responsive mechanisms to adapt to their environment. For example, chameleons change their skin color for mating or intimidating predators. Mimosa pudica folds its leaves inward upon mechanical perturbation as a defense mechanism, and the Venus flytrap closes its trapping leaves in response to the minute force of an insect landing on it. These examples have inspired numerous works developing responsive and "smart" materials. To date, scientists have built a library of responsive hydrogels according to their various response types, such as pH, heat, bio-molecule, magnetic field, salt gradient, etc. In my PhD research, I have further expanded this library of responsive hydrogel materials to address specific challenges in the field, including strain-accommodation, on demand assembly, and cellular force sensing.