Hydrogel Can Flow Like a Liquid Then Return to Its Original Shape
Posted on December 6, 2012
Researchers from Cornell say their new hydrogel is a "bit reminiscent of the Terminator T-1000." Cornell's unthreatening looking hydrogel was made from synthetic DNA and not liquid metal like the T-1000. However, it can flow like a liquid and then return to its original shape. The research was reported by Dan Luo, professor of biological and environmental engineering, and colleagues, here in the journal Nature Nanotechnology
To demonstrate the effect, the researchers created hydrogels in molds shaped like the letters D, N and A. The gels become liquids when they are poured out of the molds, but they morph back into the letters when they are placed in water. Take a look:
The researchers say that when the hydrogel they created is examined under an electron microscope it shows the material is made up of a "mass of tiny spherical 'bird's nests' of tangled DNA, about 1 micron (millionth of a meter) in diameter, further entangled to one another by longer DNA chains."