Topic
Smart material
About: Smart material is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 3704 publications have been published within this topic receiving 74280 citations. The topic is also known as: intelligent material & responsive material.
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01 Mar 2005
TL;DR: A curtain having an integral tie-back arrangement includes a piece of flexible material, part of which is fixed to the curtain for providing a channel from one of its vertical edges to the other of its Vertical edges.
Abstract: A curtain having an integral tie-back arrangement includes a piece of flexible material, part of which is fixed to the curtain for providing a channel from one of its vertical edges to the other of its vertical edges. An elongated flexible member which extends through the channel is fixed at one end to one of the vertical edges. As a result, if the free end of the elongated flexible member is pulled, the curtain is shirred along its width. The flexible material supports a device having a circular loop and an S-shaped section to which the elongated flexible member may be frictionally tied so as to support the shirred curtain. After the curtain is hung, the loop may be coupled to a nail on its window, thereby supporting the tie-back arrangement.
508 citations
TL;DR: A review of the state of the art and present status of active aeroelastic rotor control research for wind turbines is presented in this paper, where the authors discuss the potential of load reduction using smart rotor control concepts.
491 citations
TL;DR: Fundamental characterization of the ribbons by piezo-force microscopy indicates that their electromechanical energy conversion metrics are among the highest reported on a flexible medium, enabling a host of exciting avenues in fundamental research and novel applications.
Abstract: The development of a method for integrating highly efficient energy conversion materials onto stretchable, biocompatible rubbers could yield breakthroughs in implantable or wearable energy harvesting systems. Being electromechanically coupled, piezoelectric crystals represent a particularly interesting subset of smart materials that function as sensors/actuators, bioMEMS devices, and energy converters. Yet, the crystallization of these materials generally requires high temperatures for maximally efficient performance, rendering them incompatible with temperature-sensitive plastics and rubbers. Here, we overcome these limitations by presenting a scalable and parallel process for transferring crystalline piezoelectric nanothick ribbons of lead zirconate titanate from host substrates onto flexible rubbers over macroscopic areas. Fundamental characterization of the ribbons by piezo-force microscopy indicates that their electromechanical energy conversion metrics are among the highest reported on a flexible medium. The excellent performance of the piezo-ribbon assemblies coupled with stretchable, biocompatible rubber may enable a host of exciting avenues in fundamental research and novel applications.
455 citations
TL;DR: The potential and practical applications of stimuli-responsive wormlike micelles are described, with a significant potential in a wide range of other technological applications, including biomedicine, cleaning processes, drag reduction, template synthesis, to name but a few.
Abstract: A major scientific challenge of the past decade pertaining to the field of soft matter has been to craft 'adaptable' materials, inspired by nature, which can dynamically alter their structure and functionality on demand, in response to triggers produced by environmental changes. Amongst these, 'smart' surfactant wormlike micelles, responsive to external stimuli, are a particularly recent area of development, yet highly promising, given the versatility of the materials but simplicity of the design-relying on small amphiphilic molecules and their spontaneous self-assembly. The switching 'on' and 'off' of the micellar assembly structures has been reported using electrical, optical, thermal or pH triggers and is now envisaged for multiple stimuli. The structural changes, in turn, can induce major variations in the macroscopic characteristics, affecting properties such as viscosity and elasticity and sometimes even leading to a spontaneous and effective 'sol-gel' transition. These original smart materials based on wormlike micelles have been successfully used in the oil industry, and offer a significant potential in a wide range of other technological applications, including biomedicine, cleaning processes, drag reduction, template synthesis, to name but a few. This review will report results in this field published over the last few years, describe the potential and practical applications of stimuli-responsive wormlike micelles and point out future challenges.
426 citations
TL;DR: A recent Perspective as discussed by the authors highlights recent progress in this field, showcasing some of the most novel and unusual responses to stimuli, as well as advances in the fundamental understanding of flexible framework materials.
Abstract: Recent years have seen a large increase of the research effort focused on framework materials, including the nowadays-ubiquitous metal–organic frameworks but also dense coordination polymers, covalent organic frameworks, and molecular frameworks. With the quickly increasing number of structures synthesized and characterized, one pattern emerging is the common occurrence of flexibility. More specifically, an important number of framework materials are stimuli-responsive: their structure can undergo changes of large amplitude in response to physical or chemical stimulation. They can display transformations induced by temperature, mechanical pressure, guest adsorption or evacuation, light absorption, etc. and are sometimes referred to as smart materials, soft crystals, or dynamic materials. This Perspective highlights recent progress in this field, showcasing some of the most novel and unusual responses to stimuli, as well as advances in the fundamental understanding of flexible framework materials.
419 citations