Credit: B. Haghpanah et al./Adv. Mater.

Materials that include a modular system of hinges have been used to build shape-shifting structures.

Current methods can make reconfigurable structures with only a limited number of stable forms. To make such materials more versatile, Lorenzo Valdevit of the University of California, Irvine, and his colleagues created a triangular Teflon structure several centimetres across, with hinges that allow it to snap into an open or closed configuration. By linking these subunits together, the team built 3D structures with multiple stable positions (pictured).

The approach could be used with a wide range of materials to make tools that have different forms and functions, the authors say.

Adv. Mater. http://doi.org/f3qmr2 (2016)