Programmable metafluids via capsule buckling

A team lead by Bertoldi and Weitz has successfully demonstrated the potential of utilizing reversible buckling of elastomeric shells to create a novel class of metafluids. These metafluids exhibit nonlinear elasticity, switchable optical properties, and tunable viscosity. Their versatility provides new opportunities for developing soft adaptive grippers and reconfigurable logic gates. Moreover, it is anticipated that the programmability of these metafluids will have significant implications for thermodynamic and acoustic properties, enabling the enhancement of thermodynamic cycles and customizable sound propagation.

Publication:
Djellouli, A., B.V. Raemdonck, Y. Wang, Y. Yang, A. Caillaud, D.A Weitz, S. Rubinstein, B. Gorissen, and K. Bertoldi, "Shell buckling for programmable metafluids," Nature (2024)