Welcome to the Laboratory for Soft Machines & Electronics (SME) at the School of Packaging, Michigan State University (MSU). We are focusing on the design, mechanics and physics of soft (active) materials and soft robotics, the design and fabrication of flexible, stretchable and printed electronics, as well as the 3D & 4D printing of advanced functional materials. We are employing a combination of experimental, numerical and theoretical methods to exploit the fundamental mechanics and physics of advanced materials, and to design and fabricate novel machines and electronics using advanced technologies for a variety of applications in energy, food, healthcare, infrastructure and agriculture, ranging from durable buildings to tunable surfaces and interfaces, to stretchable and wearable electronics, as well as materials and technologies for Internet of Things (IoTs) and smart packaging systems in supply chain.
Research Hightlight
Smart Gripper for Soft Robotics
We have developed a new type of smart robotic gripper and actuator based on the cable driven mechanism and triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) sensors, targeting at applications in packaging automation and agriculture harvesting. This research is published in Advanced Materials Technologies!
Novel Triboelectric Nanogenerator
We have developed a new type of wave energy harvester, hierarchically structured triboelectric nanogenerator (HS-TENG), based on the triboelectric effect, targeting to harvest the huge blue energy for large-scale deployments. This research is published in Nano Energy !
Stretchable Supercapacitors from Crumpled CNT-forests
Stretchable supercapacitors based on crumpled CNT-forests are fabricated by harnessing the
mechanical instability of vertically aligned CNT arrays transferred on an elastomer substrate, offering a
new opportunity for next‐generation self-powered stretchable electronics.
Bacteria Self-Organize to Build Working Sensors
We have demonstrated one way of fabricating a 3-D dome-shaped structure based entirely on the principle of self-organization via bacteria. Identical arrays of domes were grown on two substrate surfaces, and then sandwiched together to form hybrid organic-inorganic pressure sensors.
Fully Printed, Flexible, Stable & Hysteresis-free CNT-TFTs
This study reports hysteresis-free carbon nanotube thin-film transistor (CNT-TFTs) fabricated entirely using an aerosol jet printing technique; this includes the printing of all layers: semiconducting CNTs, metallic electrodes, and insulating gate dielectrics.
Recent News
Aug 24, 2020
News Report
Our work on self-powered forest fire alarm system is highlighted Science! Cheers!
Jul 20, 2020
News Report
Xiaomin's work on soft robotic hands has been reported by MSU Today, Robotic Report, EurekAlert, Phys.org, ScienceDaily, Nanowerk, IDTechEx, and many others.
Jun 24, 2020
News Report
Yaokun's paper on novel self-powered fire alarm system has been reported by MSU Today, Advanced Science News, EurekAlert, Phys.org, ScienceDaily, ENN, Nanowerk, IDTechEx, SunriseTechno, and many others.
May 15, 2020
New Paper
Yaokun's paper on novel TENG powered sensor system has been accepted for publication by Advanced Functional Materials. Congrats!
Apr 16, 2020
New Paper
Xiaomin's paper has been accepted for publication by Soft Robotics. Congrats!
Mar 30, 2020
New Paper
Kexin's paper has been accepted for publication by ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces.
Mar 19, 2020
New Paper
Our work on stretchable Au-CNT forest based supercapacitor has been published online in Matter. The research has been reported by ScienceDaily, Phys.org, Nanowerk, News Break, Duke Research and others.
Mar 06, 2020
Featured on the inside cover of AMT
Shoue's Paper has been selected to be featured on the inside cover of the upcoming issue of Advanced Materials Technologies! Congrats!
Feb 12, 2020
New Paper
Yihao's paper on robust stretchable supercapacitor from MXene and RGO composites has been accepted for publication by ACS Nano. Cheers!
Dec 24, 2019
Journal Cover
Yaokun's paper on HS-TENG has been featured as the Front Cover in the latest issue of Nano Energy. Congrats!
Dec 20, 2019
New Paper
Yin's paper on modeling magnetoactive elastomers has been accepted for publication by International Journal of Applied Mechanics. Congrats!
Nov 30, 2019
New Paper
Shoue's review paper on soft robots has been published in Advanced Materials Technologies. Thank all the co-authors! Cheers!
Nov 05, 2019
Talks
Dr. Cao delivered an invited talk at Oak Ridge National Lab (ORNL) and visited the University of Tennessee and Joint Institute of Advanced Materials. Thank Pooran and Yanfei for their kind host and the delicious food!
Oct 30, 2019
Visiting
Dr. Cao attended the NextFlex workshop, and visited Prof. Kejie Zhao's Lab and Prof. Wenbin Yu's Lab at Purdue University! Thank you all for the warm reception!
Sep 30, 2019
New Paper
Yaokun's review paper on 3D printed batteries has been accepted for publication in Advanced Functional Materials (IF: 15.621). Congrats!
Sep 22, 2019
New Paper
Yaokun's paper on novel hierarchical structured triboelectric nanogenerator (HS-TENG) has been accepted for publication in Nano Energy (IF: 15.548). Congrats!
Apr 12, 2019
New Paper
Our paper on Highly Stretchable Supercapacitors via Crumpled CNT-Forests has been accepted for publication in Advanced Energy Materials (IF: 24.88). Cheers!
Apr 11, 2019
New Paper
Yin's paper "Phase Transition and Optimal Actuation of Active Bilayer Structures" has been accepted for publication in Extreme Mechanics Letters. Congrats!
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