Researchers at Northwestern University, Chicago, have proposed new metamaterials that exhibit compressibility properties contrary to nature. Metamaterials are those materials that are not available in nature but are engineered and also exhibit properties contrary to nature by virtue of their structure rather than composition.
Northern University researchers Zachary Nicolaou and Adilson Motter have published their research work in the journal “Nature Materials” which highlights the method of developing a material that would behave contrary to an established norm when subject to pressure. These materials contract when pulled and expand when pushed. They also exhibit force amplification where the response force increases drastically for a small increase in deformation. These materials could add to the already exciting list of applications of metamaterials as acoustic shields, visibility cloaks and super lenses by applying them in the design of protective devices, force amplifiers, actuators and micromechanical controls.
The design extends the concept of phase transition to cause such abnormal behavior intermittently. Phase transition is usually accompanied by drastic changes in the material’s physical properties. In naturally occurring materials, these changes are in the direction of normal compressibility. Zachary Nicolaou and Adilson Motter structure the metamaterials as a network of particles attracted to one another. The negative compressibility then occurs as a response between the interacting particles to external force. The researchers were inspired by the concept of optimizing the system equilibrium by limiting the network structure. This concept holds good in electrical networks where the removal of a conductor has been found to increase the current flowing through the network.
Source: http://www.northwestern.edu
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