Most plastic and rubber materials remain in a fixed shape from the moment they leave the mold. Their size and function are the same until they wear out or break. But what if synthetic materials could behave more like living organisms, growing or repairing themselves when needed?
A research team led by Yuhang Hu, associate professor in the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering and the School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, has created a new material designed to do exactly that. In a new study published in Advanced Materials, Hu and her collaborators describe a groundbreaking class of “living” polymers that can grow, shrink, heal, and even regenerate long after fabrication.
Their work combines advances in chemistry, mechanics, and materials design into a polymer platform that could reshape how engineered products are built, maintained, and recycled.
Material Inspired by Living Systems
Hu and her colleagues wanted to challenge the limitations of synthetic polymers by designing materials that behave like living systems.
“Living systems constantly remodel themselves—growing, healing, adapting, and even reshaping their mechanical properties in response to their environment,” Hu said. “What inspired us was the question: Can we design synthetic materials that behave more like living matter?”
To answer that question, the researchers designed what Hu describes as an “open, nonequilibrium” polymer platform. In this system, small molecules can move in and out of the polymer network, reversible chemical reactions occur, and the material itself can expand or contract.
The result is a material that can grow new polymer segments, remove existing ones, change stiffness, and regenerate damaged regions.
“Conceptually, it’s like giving the material metabolism,” Hu said.