The plastic-flake-turned "paper crane" is not a work of origami - it is the result of a demonstration of a shape-shifting polymer developed by scientists at east China's Zhejiang University. The material can change between different preset shapes under certain conditions, such as temperature. The crane was formed by dunking the material into water heated to 60 degrees Celsius.
The scientists' findings were published on Friday in Science Advances, an online journal from AAAS, the publisher of Science magazine. Shape-shifting materials have been under development for years. Most of these materials are incapable of accumulating multiple changes over time.
However, the polymer developed by the scientists at Zhejiang University is able to snap between different shapes, opening new applications for shape-changing materials. "It can be used to make veins or heart brackets or on surgical equipment that can get rid of blood clot thrombosis," said Zhao Qian from Zhejiang University. He is the first author of the paper published in Science Advances. The material may also be used to make flexible medical equipment that can change shape in response to changes in body temperature.
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