Markvicka’s CAREER award supports work on soft materials for robotics, stretchable electronics

Engineers are increasingly eager to develop robots that mimic the behavior of animals and biological organisms, whose adaptability, resilience and efficiency have been refined over millions of years of evolution.

In bringing bio-inspired robots to life, scientists must first create soft matter counterparts that match the softness and functionality of biological tissue. Nebraska engineer Eric Markvicka is at the forefront of these efforts. He recently received a five-year, $690,000 grant from the National Science Foundation's Faculty Early Career Development Program to advance work on a manufacturing approach that would produce a novel class of materials that could propel the fields of soft robotics, stretchable electronics and beyond.

It would be the first manufacturing strategy to yield stable mixtures of liquid metals with a wide range of solid particle additives to achieve enhanced properties — including thermal and electrical conductivity, fluidity and capacity for self-repair — that exceed anything on today's market.

The composites would be suitable for use in additive manufacturing, commonly known as 3D printing, and would accelerate momentum toward 4D printing, which produces machines that can morph to adapt to different environments.

"At the end of this project, we'll have a manufacturing strategy for creating diverse liquid metal mixtures that are appropriate for additive manufacturing," said Markvicka, assistant professor of mechanical and materials engineering. "Such capabilities will enable the engineering of new materials for hybrid 4D additive manufacturing where we can create a number of things, from robotics to machines, that ultimately mimic biological organisms."