TY - JOUR
T1 - A mechanical metamaterial made from a DNA hydrogel
AU - Lee, Jong Bum
AU - Peng, Songming
AU - Yang, Dayong
AU - Roh, Young Hoon
AU - Funabashi, Hisakage
AU - Park, Nokyoung
AU - Rice, Edward J.
AU - Chen, Liwei
AU - Long, Rong
AU - Wu, Mingming
AU - Luo, Dan
PY - 2012/12
Y1 - 2012/12
N2 - Metamaterials are artificial substances that are structurally engineered to have properties not typically found in nature. To date, almost all metamaterials have been made from inorganic materials such as silicon and copper1,2, which have unusual electromagnetic or acoustic properties1,5 that allow them to be used, for example, as invisible cloaks6,9, superlenses10-12 or super absorbers for sound13. Here, we show that metamaterials with unusual mechanical properties can be prepared using DNA as a building block. We used a polymerase enzyme to elongate DNA chains and weave them non-covalently into a hydrogel. The resulting material, which we term a meta-hydrogel, has liquid-like properties when taken out of water and solid-like properties when in water. Moreover, upon the addition of water, and after complete deformation, the hydrogel can be made to return to its original shape. The meta-hydrogel has a hierarchical internal structure and, as an example of its potential applications, we use it to create an electric circuit that uses water as a switch.
AB - Metamaterials are artificial substances that are structurally engineered to have properties not typically found in nature. To date, almost all metamaterials have been made from inorganic materials such as silicon and copper1,2, which have unusual electromagnetic or acoustic properties1,5 that allow them to be used, for example, as invisible cloaks6,9, superlenses10-12 or super absorbers for sound13. Here, we show that metamaterials with unusual mechanical properties can be prepared using DNA as a building block. We used a polymerase enzyme to elongate DNA chains and weave them non-covalently into a hydrogel. The resulting material, which we term a meta-hydrogel, has liquid-like properties when taken out of water and solid-like properties when in water. Moreover, upon the addition of water, and after complete deformation, the hydrogel can be made to return to its original shape. The meta-hydrogel has a hierarchical internal structure and, as an example of its potential applications, we use it to create an electric circuit that uses water as a switch.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84874593612&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1038/nnano.2012.211
DO - 10.1038/nnano.2012.211
M3 - Article
C2 - 23202472
AN - SCOPUS:84874593612
SN - 1748-3387
VL - 7
SP - 816
EP - 820
JO - Nature Nanotechnology
JF - Nature Nanotechnology
IS - 12
ER -