Researchers at Northwestern University have recently uncovered a previously unknown property of colloidal crystals, nanoparticles' highly-ordered three-dimensional array.
As specified in a Phys.org report, the team engineered colloidal crystals with complementary strands of DNA and discovered that dehydration crumpled the crystals, "breaking down the DNA hydrogen bonds."
Nature research paper: Shape memory in self-adapting colloidal crystals https://t.co/CTHTzwxXdz
— nature (@Nature) October 17, 2022
However, when researchers added water, the crystals bounced back to their original state within seconds.
The new research describes the shape memory occurring after changes to a colloidal structure, which is not acceptable in other crystal types.
Responding to external stimuli, reversible constructional changes in the said materials could result in associated dynamic functional changes, making them useful in chemical and biological sensing, optics, and soft robotics.
