Programmable Materials

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Programmable Materials

What are Programmable Materials?

    The term programmable material is originally termed by Professor Toffoli (Professor at Boston University, Electrical, and Computer Science Department) and Margolus (Physicist and Computer Scientist, research affiliate at Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, MIT) while referring to an ensemble of fine-grained computing elements systematically layout in Space. Their finding is like this: there is a computational substrate that is composed of fine-grained computing nodes systematically arranged throughout space which communicate with the help of nearest-neighbour interactions only.

    For example, LCD or Liquid Crystal Display is one the form of the programmable matter. This concept of LCD is achieved by programming the material externally with the application of light, electricity, electric, and magnetic fields. One of the best examples of programmable matter is Claytronics, Claytronics is the futuristic concept that works with nanoscale robotics and computer science to develop individual nanoscale computers called claytronics atoms or catoms. Claytronics interact with each other to form 3D objects which work dynamically by taking input from the user end. At the nanoscale level, there are a number of applications of the programmable matter which includes Quantum Dots (Artificial Atom) and application in Micro Electro Mechanical Systems at the micrometre or sub-millimetre level. Robotic materials are one of the most sub-group of programmable matter, which combine the structural aspects of a composite with the affordance offered by the tight integration of sensors, actuators, computation, and communication, while foregoing reconfiguration by particle motion.

Concept of Programmable Materials

    The ability to synthesize materials through design is one of the greatest scientific challenges. Programmable materials can be designed to be highly dynamic in shape and function. Advances in the manufacture of programmable materials can lead to new unexpected discoveries and new features in emerging areas such as improved plasmonics, selective catalysis, efficient energy generation, precision medicine, and autonomous actuators. There is a great deal of research interest in the material design of programmable materials to pursue innovative properties such as programmable molecules and nanomaterials. They can be assembled in a variety of environments and new applications such as flexible electronics and can be processed in dynamic shapes. This shows a high level of adaptability in combination with multidimensional transformations. 

    Extensive research on programmable materials has revolutionized materials science and engineering in terms of synthetic biology, chemistry, computer design, and more. Programmable materials with unique adaptability for a variety of applications have created new opportunities in terms of processing technology, especially in terms of uniformity and extensibility. Coupled with recent advances in programmable materials and related manufacturing, this has potential impacts on research and industrial applications. 

    In addition, bio-inspired dynamic transformations of programmable materials open up the possibilities of autonomous and soft robotics with increased application intelligence. This outlook is important for future applications of smart robotics and autonomous cyber machine interfaces. Prosperous programmable materials enable a vision of reactive materials on multiple scales, demonstrating a bright future with advanced synthetic biology and chemistry, adaptive printing processes, autonomous robotics, and intelligent cyber machine interfaces.

Controlled Assembly and Nanofabrication

    Programmable materials are made from small molecules with programmable self-assembly of nanomaterials with controllable structure and morphology. These reactive materials are attractive and place high demands on their assembly and the resulting structure. For example, nanoparticles assemble "atoms" functionalized in a shell of oligonucleotides via DNA base pairs to form a crystalline superlattice with adjustable composition, symmetry, and lattice constant. It can be programmed accurately.

Tunable Catalysis and Photoelectrochemistry

    Catalysts can provide highways for chemical reactions and are usually selective and desirable. Due to the extraordinary adaptability of the components, large surface area, adjustable pore size, and uniform active centre, these catalysts based on the Organic Metal Framework (MOF) have been intensively studied over the last few decades.

Customized and Smart Biointerfaces

    A broad portfolio of programmable materials designed for biological applications and adapted to the characteristics of the interface of the biological entity. Nanomedicines and materials sensitive to specific disease-related and microenvironmental stimuli, such as pH, redox stats, small molecules, and upregulated proteins, enable new diagnostics and treatments.

Adaptive and Proactive Mechanical Engineering

    Adaptive materials can adapt to environmental interventions and can be used in many aspects such as wearable electronics, infrastructure, actuators, and the automotive industry, providing unique characteristics for intelligent conversion systems. In the case of flexible electronics, programmable materials have different stiffness and flexibility under different conditions and can be well adapted to the designed scenario. The ongoing paradigm shift in flexible and portable products has created a demand for essentially flexible batteries that can adapt to mechanical deformation without damage. Lithium-ion batteries are the main choice for such power sources. However, achieving high energy density and high mechanical flexibility at the same time remains a challenge.

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