Volume 6 Issue 1, January 2021

An article in Advanced Materials reports the shape preservation of composite materials during compositional changes, and reveals how the magnetic, actuating and catalytic properties of selected materials may lead to applications in the future.

An article in Nature Materials reports 3D bioprinting of functional kidney organoids for high-throughput drug screening.

π-Conjugated polymers possess a wide range of useful electronic and optical properties. This Review focuses on the preparation of self-assembled nanoparticles from these materials and their applications in areas such as optoelectronics, biomedical imaging and therapy, photocatalysis and sensing.

Artificial intelligence can be used to facilitate the 3D printing of functional materials and devices directly on target surfaces, such as human bodies. This Review surveys ex situ and in situ artificial-intelligence-assisted 3D printing of multifunctional materials and its combination with surgical robots to enable autonomous medical care and smart biomanufacturing.

Several key industries routinely use metal printing to make complex parts that are difficult to produce by conventional manufacturing. Here, we show that a synergistic combination of metallurgy, mechanistic models and machine learning is driving the continued growth of metal printing.

The dynamic epigenetic landscape directs gene expression patterns that regulate cellular form and function. Designer cell culture materials have shed light on how materials cues influence cellular plasticity through the epigenome and directed tissue-fabrication approaches that drive biological activities.

Polymer mechanochemistry converts mechanical forces in materials to chemical reactions through the response of functional groups known as mechanophores. This Review discusses the colorimetric, mechanical, chemical and electronic responses of mechanophores that may be useful in materials for strain sensing and strengthening, soft devices and additive manufacturing.