These new and emerging materials, which include shape-memory polymers, can stretch and deform dramatically in response to environmental stimuli such as heat, light, and electricity -- properties that ...

X-ray studies and fundamental calculations are helping physicists gain molecular level insight into the workings of some magnetic shape-memory materials, which change shape under the influence ...

Shape-memory metals, which can revert from one shape to a different one simply by being warmed or otherwise triggered, have been useful in a variety of applications, as actuators that can control the ...

With 4D printing, the objects can change shape or properties using external stimuli such as temperature, light, pH, magnetic field, electricity, and moisture. Additionally, the changes in shape or ...

A new "smart materials" process developed by researchers in the Centre for Advanced Materials Joining based in the department of mechanical and mechatronics engineering at the University of Waterloo ...

In a recent review published in Micromachines, researchers from Spain and Portugal highlighted the synergistic combination of shape-memory polymers (SMP) with carbon nanotubes (CNT) to enhance ...

Engineers have created shape-memory materials made of ceramic rather than of traditional metal. The development opens a new range of applications, especially for actuators in high-temperature settings ...