Paolo Sartori – ESR 4

4D printed biomimetic soft robotic functions

Soft responsive elements, mimicking the biological lightweight soft structures of living organisms, offer interesting features such as compliance, large and controlled deformations in response to various stimuli, being sometimes remotely addressed with no physical contact. 4D printing of liquid crystal elastomers (LCEs) offers the possibility to prepare soft complex elements with a well-defined morphology that deform in a prescribed fashion upon stimulation with a wide variety of stimuli having therefore great potential for the implementation of smart responsive complex biomimetic structures.

The ESR project targets the rational design, supported by numerical modelling, and the preparation of 4D printed responsive structures incorporating LCEs to create biologically inspired active structures and motions with potential interest in biomedical applications.

The selected ESR will be hired by CSIC and will develop her/his activity at the Advanced Manufacturing Laboratory at INMA in Zaragoza (Spain) performing secondments in Scuola Superiore Sant´Anna (Pisa, Italy) and in University of Zaragoza and BeOnChip in Zaragoza (Spain).

PhD programme – University: Doctoral Programme in Physics – University of Zaragoza