Material dents and folds could be engineered into smart surfaces with AI (opens in new tab)

Wrinkles or dents appearing on material surfaces are often regarded as signs of damage or deformation. In a recent collaborative review paper published in Nano-Micro Letters and titled "Harnessing Surface Instabilities for Functional Materials: Mechanics, Morphology, and Emerging Applications," researchers from Lingnan University propose that naturally formed surface textures in materials could in the future be combined with artificial intelligence (AI)-assisted design to develop novel functi...