Mechano-Activated Objects with Multidirectional Shape Morphing Programmed via 3D Printing

Mechano-activation as a stimuli response in 4D printing offers advantages such as orthogonality to other stimuli and control over the magnitude of applied force. Herein, we demonstrate mechanically activated morphing with directional control that is dictated by the patterns produced via multimaterial 3D printing. An advantage of this approach is that prestretching of the sample is not required. We developed ion gel inks composed of a cross-linkable self-assembling triblock copolymer and polymerizable ionic liquids that varied in the size of the cation. The multimaterial printing of these inks afforded objects that changed their shape in a predetermined manner upon the application of a tensile force.