Bloomin’ marvellous

Scientists have created a polymer flower that can bloom thanks to an internal clock…and may have uses in medtech.

Really? A plastic flower that blooms?

Yes. Scientists at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have played around with the molecular structure of a soft polymer to create a material that can be set to change shape eg bloom.

Are you sure?

Definitely. It does sound incredible. You’d be forgiven for mistaking the Guardian write up for a Wordsworth musing…

“The delicate flower bud bursts into life, opening layer after layer of brightly coloured petals, first large and red, then small and purple, and finally the innermost ones - tiny and orange.

But as convincing as the bloom may seem, it is not a work of nature. Scientists created the flowering bud after learning how to make polymer sheets that can be programmed to change shape over time.”

How’s this possible?

Polymers have molecules  that lie next to each other and which can move past each other. This is what makes the material flexible. As some of the links between the molecules in a polymer are permanent, the material can stretch and return to its original shape.

The researchers discovered that they could change the materials ‘moving’ properties allowing it to shape shift over a period of time.

So what’s the deal for the medtech sector?

Far from it – it has far-reaching benefits for the medtech sector . According to the New Scientist: “To demonstrate the concept, the team used the material to create a delivery box which opened automatically on one side when it reached its destination. But the morphing polymer is likely to be more useful for designing medical implants that are folded up for insertion then change shape inside the body.”

And according to Michael Kessler, Washington State University in Pullman, who also develops transformable materials, this technology has “great potential for a range of applications, especially in biomedical engineering”.