Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

DNA Nanotechnology

A metamaterial with memory

Nature Nanotechnology volume 7, pages 773–774 (2012)Cite this article

Subjects

DNA can be used to create a very soft gel with liquid-like properties that can return to a preset solid shape when water is added.

In the film Terminator 2: Judgment Day, the robot assassin T-1000 — a liquid metal nanomorph — can flatten under gravity, flow through a narrow opening and then reconstitute itself into a solid shape. Writing in Nature Nanotechnology, Dan Luo and colleagues now report a gel with very similar properties1. The gel is made from water and DNA molecules, and has a very low elastic modulus (∼10 Pa, which is less than 1/100th the elastic modulus of human muscle). The material is so soft that it completely collapses under its own weight if without water and can conform to the shape of a container. The waterless gel puddle it forms can also be easily manipulated and could, for example, be made to flow through the narrow opening beneath a door. Then, once on the other side, the puddle can spring up and morph into a preset solid shape just by adding water.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Relevant articles

Open Access articles citing this article.

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Get just this article for as long as you need it

$39.95

Learn more

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: A potential mechanism for the liquid- and solid-like properties of the DNA metamaterial.

References

  1. Lee, J. B. et al. Nature Nanotech. 7, 816–820 (2012).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Smith, D. R., Padilla, W. J., Vier, D. C., Nemat-Nasser, S. C. & Schultz, S. Phys. Rev. Lett. 84, 4184–4187 (2000).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Shevchenko, E. V., Talapin, D. V., Kotov, N. A., O'Brien, S. & Murray, C. B. Nature 439, 55–59 (2006).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Lendlein, A., Jiang, H. Y., Junger, O. & Langer, R. Nature 434, 879–882 (2005).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Xie, T. Nature 464, 267–270 (2010).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Tanaka, T. & Fillmore, D. J. J. Chem. Phys. 70, 1214–1218 (1979).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Dang, X. et al. Nature Nanotech. 6, 377–384 (2011).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Nam, K. T. et al. Science 312, 885–888 (2006).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Seeman, N. C. Nature 421, 427–431 (2003).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Rothemund, P. W. K. Nature 440, 297–302 (2006).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Ju Li and Liyuan Bai are at the Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering, and Department of Biological Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA,

    Ju Li & Liyuan Bai

Authors
  1. Ju Li
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Liyuan Bai
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Ju Li or Liyuan Bai.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Li, J., Bai, L. A metamaterial with memory. Nature Nanotech 7, 773–774 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/nnano.2012.221

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nnano.2012.221

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Find nanotechnology articles, nanomaterial data and patents all in one place. Visit Nano by Nature Research