Polymer networks take a bow

摘要

For applications such as tissue engineering, drug-delivery systems and biosensors, there is a need for stimulus-responsive polymers that can adapt to their environment by converting optical, thermal or mechanical signals into chemical signals, and vice versa1. Writing in Advanced Materials, Bowman and colleagues2 report just such a material, and demonstrate a process in which thin films of the material respond to light and mechanical forces by forming intricate surface patterns.