Screenshot from a video by the researchers
Researchers say structures may be used in windows to wick away moisture.
MIT engineers have fabricated a new elastic material coated with microscopic, hairlike structures that tilt in response to a magnetic field. Depending on the field’s orientation, the microhairs can tilt to form a path through which fluid can flow; the material can even direct water upward, against gravity.
Each microhair, made of nickel, is about 70 microns high and 25 microns wide — about one-fourth the diameter of a human hair. The researchers fabricated an array of the microhairs onto an elastic, transparent layer of silicone.
In experiments, the magnetically activated material directed not just the flow of fluid, but also light — much as window blinds tilt to filter the sun. Researchers say the work could lead to waterproofing and anti-glare applications, such as “smart windows” for buildings and cars.
“You could coat this on your car windshield to manipulate rain or sunlight,” says Yangying Zhu, a graduate student in MIT’s Department of Mechanical Engineering. “So you could filter how much solar radiation you want coming in, and also shed raindrops. This is an opportunity for the future.”
In the near term, the material could also be embedded in lab-on-a-chip devices to magnetically direct the flow of cells and other biological material through a diagnostic chip’s microchannels.
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The Latest on: Microhairs
- The Future of Sensory Robotics: An All-Optical Mechano-Sensor Mimicking Natural Sensillaon April 9, 2024 at 7:35 am
In a recent study published in Nature Communications, an all-optical mechano-sensor was developed inspired by mechano-sensitive hair-like sensilla (MSHS) using a thin-walled glass microbubble.
via Bing News
