{"id":13603,"date":"2025-02-20T22:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-02-20T22:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/modernsciences.org\/staging\/4414\/?p=13603"},"modified":"2025-02-13T17:28:55","modified_gmt":"2025-02-13T17:28:55","slug":"4d-printing-self-assembling-materials-smart-manufacturing-february-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/modernsciences.org\/staging\/4414\/4d-printing-self-assembling-materials-smart-manufacturing-february-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"Sofas that self-assemble when you heat them up? How 4D printing could transform manufacturing"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n Flat-pack, but not as we know it.\n This is an AI image created by OpenAI’s Dall-E.<\/span>, CC BY-SA<\/a><\/span>\n <\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>\n\n Mahdi Bodaghi<\/a>, Nottingham Trent University<\/a><\/em><\/span>\n\n

Imagine buying a flat sheet from a furniture store that changes into a sofa when you heat it with a hairdryer. Or consider the value of a stent that precisely expands inside a patient\u2019s artery, adapting to their unique anatomy.<\/p>\n\n

Welcome to 4D printing, a frontier in material and manufacturing science that has been rapidly expanding over the past decade. While 3D printing has captured global attention for its ability to create objects layer by layer, 4D printing adds the element of time. <\/p>\n\n

It involves 3D-printing adaptable objects from materials such as polymers or alloys that can bend, twist or transform entirely when they come into contact with heat or moisture. By moving beyond the constrictions of static designs, it opens up remarkable possibilities in areas such as medicine, aerospace, robotics and construction.<\/p>\n\n

I was recently the lead author on a comprehensive report<\/a> published in the journal of Smart Materials and Structures, charting the advances and challenges in this field. We outlined this industry\u2019s potential, offering a vision of a future where smart materials redefine design and manufacturing.<\/p>\n\n

Here are some more of the main fields in which 4D printing could be transformative:<\/p>\n\n

1. Healthcare<\/h2>\n\n

Like the stent I mentioned earlier, 4D printing raises the possibility of creating implants and prosthetics that adapt to patients\u2019 needs in real time. Research teams working on these innovations include the Biomet4D<\/a> project, coordinated by the IMDEA Materials Institute in Madrid, which is developing smart, biodegradable metallic implants for people with seriously damaged or defective bones. The implants can change shape and expand as the bone grows, supporting it much more effectively than a static implant. <\/p>\n\n

Another area of focus is smarter ways to give patients drugs. For example, a team of researchers<\/a> based at China\u2019s Jilin University have created 4D-printed hydrogel capsules whose outer structure stays intact inside a patient\u2019s body until it reaches a particular temperature, such as when there is an infection, meaning the drug only takes effect when it\u2019s required. This could be useful in situations where it\u2019s beneficial to release a drug into a patient\u2019s body at exactly the right time and location. <\/p>\n\n

2. Robotics and wearables<\/h2>\n\n

Integrating 4D materials into robotics and wearable devices enables them to adjust their functionality in response to their environment. For instance, researchers at Harvard University\u2019s Wyss Institute<\/a> have developed self-folding robotic devices based on insights from origami that change shape when exposed to heat. One potential application could involve sending these devices to carry out tasks in environments that are difficult to reach, such as in deep seas or oceans. <\/p>\n\n

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