Bio-Inspired Hierarchical Multifunctional Metamaterials

结构重量减轻和能量收集能力是显著减少化石燃料消耗造成的能源浪费和环境影响的最重要的设计标准。受细胞材料的启发，细胞材料表现出分层微结构和形状变化的特性，该研究项目的目标是引入多功能超材料，作为具有可调机械、湿热和电磁特性的尖端超轻智能材料。多尺度建模、3D打印和实验表征将用于开发轻质、结构耐用的多功能超材料，以实现高能量收集能力，具有可编程的多物理特性，可同时用于结构、传感、驱动和能量收集应用。

Structural weight reduction and energy harvesting capabilities are the most important design criteria to significantly reduce waste energy and environmental impacts caused by fossil fuel consumption. Inspired by cellular materials, which show hierarchical microarchitectures and shape-changing properties, the objective of this research program is to introduce multifunctional metamaterials as a cutting-edge class of ultralight smart materials with tunable mechanical, hygrothermal, and electromagnetic properties. Multiscale modelling, 3D printing, and experimental characterization will be employed to develop lightweight and structurally-durable multifunctional metamaterials to achieve a high energy harvesting capability with programmable multiphysical properties for simultaneous structural, sensing, actuating, and energy harvesting applications.