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Science 26 January 2007:
Vol. 315. no. 5811, p. 433
DOI: 10.1126/science.315.5811.433b
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This Week in Science
Many responsive materials, such as hydrogels, are made from polymers that can swell or shrink with changing exposure to a solvent. Although these materials can respond rapidly, there is a limit to the complexity in their shape change, as well as to the amount of stress that can be exerted on such soft materials. Sidorenko et al. (p. 487) constructed two architectures in which silicon nanocolumns are either freely embedded in a polymer hydrogel or attached to the underlying substrate. When the hydrogel changes dimension upon exposure to water vapor, the nanocolumns are lifted up and stand up off the surface. This actuation is fast (on the order of seconds) and reversible. The hydrogel can also be templated so that the motion of the silicon nanocolumns occurs in a specific pattern.
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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)
