New Herculean Materials

Aircraft wings or helicopter rotors made of materials that can change their shape in response to electric controls have long been a dream of aeronautic engineers. It’s an application that would markedly improve the performance and fuel efficiency of aircraft. But the right shape-shifting material to make it happen has proven elusive.

Now researchers at MIT have discovered a promising approach that takes advantage of the mechanism that will eventually cause your laptop battery to fail: the expansion and contraction of electrode materials in the battery. “This is a classical case of taking lemons and making lemonade,” says Yet-Ming Chiang, a materials science and engineering professor at MIT who’s working on the project.

Technology Review