Block copolymer multistate material circuit
Abstract
Nature maximizes efficiency and minimizes waste by using simple building blocks to create complex systems. Developing synthetic materials inspired by similar principles like cell multistability could enable sustainable material lifecycles and various applications. Here, we report a recyclable multistate material system with quantitatively defined states and circuit-like transition pathways, offering a series of switchable material properties by dual-phase crystalline control in self-assembled nanostructures. In state with high crystallinity and alignment, the material displays exceptional toughness (441 MJ m ⁻³ ) higher than spider silk and true strength of 738 MPa, raising loads a million times its own weight. Fine-tuning deformation behaviors of rigid states provides excellent impact resistance (force damping up to 94%) outperforming UHMWPE and Kevlar. Rigid states can switch to soft states rapidly and reversibly, with modulus decreasing from 0.88 GPa to 0.1 MPa in seconds. These transitions also enable high-performance actuators for adaptive fabrics, biomedical devices, and micromotors.
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BibTeX
@article{wei2026block,
title = {{Block copolymer multistate material circuit}},
author = {Hongxin Wei and Lingmin Lan and Li Luo and Ziqi Liu and Changxing Ji and Diyuan Zheng and Jie Chen and Robert J. Hickey and Chao Lang},
journal = {Nature Communications},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1038/s41467-026-78278-2},
url = {https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-026-78278-2},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Block copolymer multistate material circuit
AU - Hongxin Wei
AU - Lingmin Lan
AU - Li Luo
AU - Ziqi Liu
AU - Changxing Ji
AU - Diyuan Zheng
AU - Jie Chen
AU - Robert J. Hickey
AU - Chao Lang
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/06
JO - Nature Communications
DO - 10.1038/s41467-026-78278-2
UR - https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-026-78278-2
AB - Nature maximizes efficiency and minimizes waste by using simple building blocks to create complex systems. Developing synthetic materials inspired by similar principles like cell multistability could enable sustainable material lifecycles and various applications. Here, we report a recyclable multistate material system with quantitatively defined states and circuit-like transition pathways, offering a series of switchable material properties by dual-phase crystalline control in self-assembled nanostructures. In state with high crystallinity and alignment, the material displays exceptional toughness (441 MJ m ⁻³ ) higher than spider silk and true strength of 738 MPa, raising loads a million times its own weight. Fine-tuning deformation behaviors of rigid states provides excellent impact resistance (force damping up to 94%) outperforming UHMWPE and Kevlar. Rigid states can switch to soft states rapidly and reversibly, with modulus decreasing from 0.88 GPa to 0.1 MPa in seconds. These transitions also enable high-performance actuators for adaptive fabrics, biomedical devices, and micromotors.
SN - 2041-1723
ER -