Dr Morgan Barnes - University College London

Research Fellowships 2025

Living soft materials display extraordinary dynamic functionalities, such as goosebumps for thermal regulation, prey detection in Venus flytraps, and cuttlefish colour changes for camouflage. In contrast, engineered soft materials like rubber bands, foam, and sponges typically serve static, singular purposes. This project will combine recent advances in chemistry, mechanics, and engineering to develop synthetic animated matter using liquid crystal elastomers (LCEs) for wide-ranging applications in the health, defence, and aerospace sectors. LCEs are complex materials that couple responsive molecular elements (liquid crystals) to the macroscopic polymer network. This results in stimuli-responsive behaviours such as thermally actuated synthetic muscles, photo-switchable adhesion and electrically responsive optics. However, current research has yielded scientifically interesting outcomes, but no useful industrial or societal products yet. 

To overcome these challenges, Dr Barnes recently developed simple fabrication methods to achieve previously impossible complex shape changes in LCEs. This project will accelerate the translation of these scientifically intriguing materials to create industrially and societally beneficial devices. This project uses state-of-the-art facilities at UCL’s East Campus, collaborations with multidisciplinary faculty in the new Manufacturing Futures Laboratory, and insight from industry leaders to strategically advance LCE engineering for impactful applications. First, the project will explore the limits of nanoscale shape actuation to create a library of dynamic biomimetic-inspired functionalities, such as a surface that switches between lotus-leaf self-cleaning and anisotropic water transport of banana leaves. I will then translate these smart surfaces into impactful technologies, including advanced light-responsive microfluidic devices and self-cleaning biomedical surfaces that improve infection control and patient outcomes. 

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