Research News
The innovative nanomaterial changes its characteristics through electric signal impulses. Photo: HZG
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Soft or Rigid at the Push of a Button
Materials with a memory that can "remember" their original shape are long since used in practical applications. However, materials that change between a soft and a rigid state at the push of a button have not existed until now. Jörg Weißmüller from the Helmholtz Centre Geesthacht has developed such a material together with colleagues from the metal research institute in Shenyang, China. To do so, the material experts created a network of tiny channels and pores in metalls by way of targeted corrosion processes. This network then was filled with conductible liquid. The result is a true hybrid material made of metal and liquid. The ions in this liquid solution can electrically charge the metal boundary surfaces. Thus an electric charge within the liquid partner can change the mechanical characteristics of the metal partner. These insights could render possible intelligent materials, that, for instance, independently seal cracks in metal sheets.
