As a society we are constantly revolutionizing the materials we use. We have created 3D printers that print out digital shapes for us and now we have created printers that produce materials capable of ...

Researchers at the University of Wollongong, Australia have created a 3D printer-compatible hydrogel that is mechanically tough and able to repeatedly change shape in response to water temperature.

(Nanowerk Spotlight) Compared to creating static objects with 3D printing, 4D printing systems add time as the fourth dimension to 3D printing: 4D printing allows a 3D printed structure to change its ...

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's artery, ...

Forget 3D printing. 4D printing is the next thing. We are all very familiar with three dimensional materials that nowadays we can print by ourselves with relatively cheap 3d printers, but the future ...

From the capacitors in our electronics to avoiding a fogged-up airplane windshield, complex ceramic materials are essential to the modern world. There’s only been so many ways to manufacture these ...

Imagine a world where you no longer have to spend hours putting together Ikea furniture. Instead, that flat-packed table you purchased will instantly unfold into the right shape while you sit back and ...

Researchers have created software and hardware for a 4D printer with applications in the biomedical field. In addition to 3D printing, this machine allows for controlling extra functions: programming ...

Researchers have developed new 4D hydrogels -- 3D materials that have the ability to change shape over time in response to stimuli -- that can morph multiple times in a preprogrammed or on-demand ...

Imagine if your favourite pair of jeans could last forever, thanks to self-repairing polymer chains in the fabric. Further, imagine a vehicle interior configuring to a customised layout and shape you ...