Article by Bharti & Group Highlighted on Cover of Macromolecular Rapid Communications
Congratulations go to Yusheng Guo (ChE PhD candidate), Jorge A. Belgodere, Yingzhen
Ma (ChE PhD candidate), Jangwook P. Jung, and Prof. Bhuvnesh Bharti who were recently
published in the journal Macromolecular Rapid Communications. Their article, entitled "Directed Printing and Reconfiguration of Thermoresponsive
Silica-pNIPAM Nanocomposites," was selected for the coveted space of front cover.
Abstract
Printing of polymeric composites into desired patterns and shapes has revolutionized small鈥恠cale manufacturing processes. However, high鈥恟esolution printing of adaptive materials that change shape in response to external stimuli remains a significant technical challenge. The article presents a new approach of printing thermoresponsive poly(N鈥恑sopropylacrylamide) into macroscopic structures that dynamically reconfigure in response to heating and cooling cycles. The printing process is performed using an external laser source, which enables thermal cross鈥恖inking of the polymer ink consisting of monomer, cross鈥恖inker, initiator, and inorganic nanoparticles. It is shown that the addition of silica nanoparticles enhances the mechanical properties of poly(N鈥恑sopropylacrylamide) while maintaining its thermoresponsiveness at micrometer鈥恠cale resolution, which otherwise is not feasible by extrusion鈥恇ased three鈥恉imensional printing techniques. It is demonstrated that spatial reconfiguration of the printed monolayers upon increasing temperature is governed by the local geometry, which enables mimicking the reconfiguration of plant leaves in a natural environment. The study lays a foundation for developing a new fabrication platform to print thermoresponsive structures that may find applications in biomedical implants, sensors, and other multi鈥恟esponsive materials.
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